Technology3.11.2006

Icasa loses its linchpin

Barendse confirmed to the Mail & Guardian this week that he would not be taking up his position as Icasa councillor because he has been poached by the regulator’s biggest headache, the fixed-line incumbent, Telkom. Barendse’s decision is a massive blow for Icasa, which has its back against the wall in a titanic struggle to regulate the sector and stimulate competition.

Barendse’s 20 years of professional experience in managing the telecoms sector is now set to benefit Telkom, the company he would have played an active part in regulating at Icasa. Barendse had been described by stakeholders as the “linchpin” in Icasa’s new council because of his wealth of expertise. He was employed at Telkom between 1992 and 2001, holding a number of positions such as network infrastructure planner, sales account manager and senior manager of regulatory and government relations.

Barendse says he notified the parliamentary portfolio committee for communications that he would not be taking up the position as Icasa councillor as far back as September 20 2006. The portfolio committee chairperson, Godfrey Oliphant, says Barendse’s letter was only read after the committee voted on September 21 in support of the five new councillors selected by Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri. Oliphant says the portfolio committee must now decide between re-advertising the post and selecting another candidate from the recommended list.

Barendse told the M&G this week that his decision to take a position in Telkom’s regulatory affairs department was purely based on economics and that the remuneration package offered by Icasa was not sufficient. Barendse has been based at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands since 2001, where he has been conducting research that involves detailed analysis of regulating interconnection, pricing, unbundling and licensing in the sector, all of which are of current importance to Icasa.

The DA’s spokesperson on communications, Dene Smuts, said Barendse’s decision not to take the job was very bad news. Smuts added that Barendse was seen as a key player who would assist Icasa in implementing the economic regulations required by the Electronic Communications Act (ECA).

Even Icasa admits that it has been a tough and controversial year for South Africa’s telecommunications and broadcasting regulator.

Under severe pressure from the South African government to address exorbitant telecommunications costs, which have been identified as a major constraint to economic growth and job creation, Icasa has suffered many setbacks.

At a time when Icasa is grappling with the ramifications of new legislation in the form of the ECA and the Icasa Amendment Act, it has haemorrhaged senior managers, losing invaluable institutional memory. The mass exodus placed Icasa’s leadership, and chairperson Paris Mashile, in the spotlight, with exiting senior mangers pointing to conflict between the council and senior managers.

Icasa’s performance this year leaves a lot to be desired. With performance easily measured by indicators such as availability of affordable and accessible telecoms services, it seems that its regulation attempts have had very little impact. Quizzed about its performance for the past year, a number of stakeholders rated the regulator somewhere between average and poor.

Smuts said the regulator was clearly facing a leadership problem and the departure of senior managers was a good indication of this.

“A body which has that public image cannot begin to be the shrewd, sharp and innovative regulator that the industry needs,” says Smuts.

This is in stark contrast to the regulator’s opinion of its own performance. Approached by the M&G to provide a self-assessment Icasa listed a number of achievements for the year and rated its performance as an A.

Icasa insisted that it had “never faltered in delivering on its mandate” and maintained that the mass exodus of staff was the result of uncertainty fuelled by the legislative changes and the lucrative positions on offer by operators in the ICT sector, an argument that is not borne out in the exit reports of the staff members concerned.

Stakeholders point out that Icasa has been very slow to develop regulations to address crucial bottlenecks such as interconnection, facilities leasing, handset subsidies and unbundling the local loop, which would go a long way to stimulating competition in the sector.

The ECA has ensured that 2007 is set to be a hugely challenging year as a result of the fact that Icasa has to restructure itself in line with the converging ICT and broadcasting sectors. Convergence means the lines that demarcated the IT, telecoms and broadcasting sectors are becoming blurred, with cellphone and fixed-line operators moving into broadcasting, while internet service providers (ISPs) and value added network service operators (Vans) begin to offer telecoms solutions.

Policies and regulations can no longer be developed for each sector in isolation, requiring a new breed of regulator, one well versed in technological developments and understanding of the full ramifications of its regulatory decisions.

Aside from the organisational restructuring that has to take place, Icasa must also re-license all operators that fall under its jurisdiction in line with the new licence categories prescribed by the ECA. The regulator must also revisit all existing regulation and amend it so that it falls in line with the new legislation.

The daunting workload created by the ECA led to the decision to appoint five new councillors to replace the three whose terms expired at the end of June this year. This will increase the number of Icasa councillors from seven to nine.

Councillor Mamodupi Mohlala was reappointed to her position and four new councillors were appointed including Barendse, who must now be replaced.

Meet your new Icasa counsillors

Mamodupi Mohlala

Mamodupi Mohlala returns to the regulator, having served as a councillor between 2002 and 2006. A qualified attorney, Mohlala studied at both the University of Swaziland and the University of the Witwatersrand. In 2002 she was appointed an Icasa councillor and has chaired the licence amendment committees for Telkom, Sentech, Wireless Business Solutions, Vodacom and Cell C. Earlier this year the Mail & Guardian revealed that Mohlala had been singled out by departing Icasa employees for terrorising staffers and that she had been moonlighting for various ICT stakeholders through her law firm Mohlala Attorneys Inc. She was nominated by Wireless Business Solutions.

Robert Nkuna

Robert Nkuna was the official spokesperson for Minister of Communications Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri between 2001 and 2002, after which he took up a position as general manager of corporate communications for the Post Office. Nkuna left the post office in 2004 and spent most of 2005 completing a master’s of management in the field of public and development management at the University of the Witwatersrand.

He is currently enrolled for a PhD in ICT policy and regulation at Wits on a part-time basis. Stakeholders feel that Nkuna has potential to develop into a good councillor through the experience of working with other more senior councillors. Before joining the department of communications, Nkuna had worked at the government communications and informatio
n systems. He was nominated by Vodacom.

Brenda Ntombela

Brenda Ntombela joins Icasa after vacating her position as chief director in the office of Lyndall Shope-Mafole, Director General of the department of communications. Her responsibilities under Shope-Mafole involved overseeing shareholder management for the Post office and Telkom as well as international relations on behalf of the department of communications.
Ntombela has been employed at the department since January 2002, when she was hired as a general manager for the postal business unit. Her responsibilities involved the formulation and strategic direction of postal policy and legislation, experience that stakeholders hope she will use when the postal regulator merges with Icasa. Ntombela was nominated by Vodacom.

Jacobus van Rooyen

Jacobus Van Rooyen is the chairperson of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa, a position he has held since 1993. He has a vast amount of experience in broadcasting and freedom of expression law. Stakeholders hope that this expertise will assist Icasa in terms of interpreting the broadcasting aspects of the Electronic Communications Act. As chair of the Publications Appeal Board between 1980 and 1990, he clashed with the apartheid government when the board released the Steve Biko film Cry Freedom under his chairmanship in 1988 and the Freedom Charter in 1984. He was appointed senior counsel of the High Court of South Africa from May 1990 and has acted as a judge since March 2003. Van Rooyen was nominated by attorney Refiloe Mokoena-Msiza.

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