Major policy shift for telecoms expected

The changes will build on the partial liberalisation of the sector last February, which the industry viewed as welcome, but insufficient.

Yesterday the department’s acting deputy director general for policy, Norman Munzhelele, said minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri would relax the rules further next month.

He did not say how dramatic the changes would be or whether they would meet industry expectations.

“Our minister will make a statement around the things we need to do to further liberalise the sector and ensure there is competition to lower the cost of doing business by lowering telecoms prices,” Munzhelele told a conference yesterday.

New regulations have been expected since the department staged a two-day colloquium last year to canvass the industry about the changes needed to bring more competition to the sector.

Voice and data service providers hope the minister will declare the undersea Sat-3 cable a national asset, allowing other operators to use its international high-speed bandwidth without paying Telkom fees. Matsepe-Casaburri has also been urged to let value-added service providers such as internet players build their own networks.

Current laws force them to lease their lines from Telkom.

Munzhelele said government recognised the need for faster and cheaper broadband access.

But he said that “managed liberalisation” was still the preferred way of regulating the sector, implying that no “big bang” liberalisation should be expected next month.

One department source said the original proposals drafted after the colloquium and sent to the minister contained strong liberalisation measures. But the proposals were sent back for amendments, he said.

He would not say whether the Sat-3 cable would now be declared a national asset, or left under Telkom’s monopoly.