Where is our e-rate, Icasa?
South Africa’s Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) has written to the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), highlighting the authority’s failure to finalise regulations governing the implementation of the e-rate.
ISPA says the failure is disincentivising the provision of discounted services to schools and other qualifying institutions.
ISPA’s request to Icasa required clarity from the authority “regarding the current status of implementation of the e-rate as contemplated in section 73 of the Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005 (“the ECA”)”. No response from Icasa has been received.
First proposed under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the concept of an e-rate was floated as a way to help achieve universal telecoms access and facilitate education by requiring ISPs to provide Internet access to schools at 50% of the commercial rate.
More recently the legislative framework for the e-rate was amended by the Electronic Communications Amendment Act 1 of 2014, which broadened the scope of application of the discount to private schools.
Icasa has stated that it intends to complete its review of the 2009 e-rate regulations, which it recognised did not provide for the relationship between retail and wholesale levels of the service provision value chain.
It published notice of its intention to revise the 2009 e-rate Regulations on 7 December 2009 and public hearings in this regard were held in March 2010.
This exercise has not, however, been completed and the 2009 e-rate regulations remain in force.
Furthermore, there is no mention of the proposed e-rate review in Icasa’s current Strategic Plan.
“We are still stuck with no reference to upstream providers giving the downstream provider 50% discount,” said one ISPA member.
“With today’s prices, margins have been chopped to remain competitive making 50% totally unrealistic.”
“I think the e-rate should be scrapped as many ISPs are doing their best to provide services to schools and making their own decisions around a sustainable service. The reality is that schools are getting discounts in spite of the e-rate,” the ISP said.
There is a common perception that the e-rate must be offered by ISPs, says Dominic Cull, ISPA regulatory advisor, when, in fact, no regulatory framework exists to do so.
“Icasa is aware of the absence of a regulatory framework to prescribe the manner of e-rate implementation, yet it carries on requiring licensees to file annual reports relating to their implementation of the e-rate,” said Cull.
“At the same time the e-rate is regularly held up in Parliament as an ongoing success: it isn’t.”
ISPA has called on Icasa to urgently clarify its position on the e-rate.
Cull said that if the e-rate is to be persisted with then it must be recognised that, as things stand, the e-rate actually disincentivises discounted service provision – with the possible exception of vertically-integrated incumbent operators.
“The current uncertainty serves nobody’s interests,” said Cull.
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