ICASA's Epic Fail
The Mobile TV Consortium (Mobile TV) recently announced that it has referred the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to the Public Protector’s Johannesburg office.
This follows an allegation that ICASA had allowed MultiChoice to submit an application for a mobile television broadcasting license, despite the pay television operator submitting a late application.
On Friday ICASA set out to clarify the Mobile TV debacle and called a media briefing to address the issue. The regulator however missed one important component of the strategy: Inviting all relevant media contacts to the event.
ICASA website mess
Visiting the ICASA website was not much help either. The regulator’s ‘What’s New’ section – which typically lists important documents like media statements, recently published regulations and issues open for discussion – was awash with useless information.
The last 10 documents listed were made up of test messages and multiple posts. The following notices (all posted on 22/05/2010) were listed on 22 May as important ICASA documentation on their website: This is IT, This is IT, This is IT, Test Sat 2, BBBB Test, Read me (default DotNetNuke document), SAP Tarrif draft, Test Sat, asdasdasdasd, Test sat 100 (ICASA website screenshot available here).
Some of the download links give the error “Server Error in ‘/’ Application”, a message which is often relayed when the links are not pointing to an existing virtual directory on the web server.
The website problem was fixed on Monday, but the latest mess from the regulator will do little to improve its image as an organization which is known for failing to provide easily accessible and accurate information.
ICASA’s website and communications problems << comments and views
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