ECA amendment submitted to speed Infraco licence
The government on Thursday submitted to Parliament its bill amending the Electronic Communications Act in order to allow the new Infraco broadband fibre-optic network to get a fast-track licence to operate.
The bill goes somewhat further than this by allowing the minister to issue a policy directive "in order to initiate and facilitate intervention by government to ensure strategic ICT infrastructure investment: and to provide a framework for the licensing of a public entity by the (Independent Communications) Authority" of SA (Icasa).
The bill does not explain what it means by "intervention by government".
A memorandum attached to the bill explains however that in addition to enabling the licensing of Infraco, it will also allow the licensing of, for example, municipalities.
The need for the bill arose when the original Infraco bill which set up the company, built from the fibre-optic networks of Transnet and Eskom as a separate state-owned utility, tried to fast-track the licensing process for the new company by creating a "deemed" licence for it, thus short-cutting the normal Icasa process. .
MPs objected to the idea of such a short cut, and the new bill is the result.
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