Fight for fibre rollout goes legal

The FTTH Council Africa announced today (4 April 2012) that it has started an official legal process against Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) for its decision to place a moratorium on all deployments of fibre.

It is understood that the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) informed stakeholders that no new wayleaves for fibre deployments will be issued until a ‘clear policy’ was established.

CEO of the FTTH Council Africa, Juanita Clark, told MyBroadband that they have not been given any reason for the decision by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.

“We feel that we have exhausted all avenues to amicably resolve the lifting of the moratorium that has been placed on the deployment of telecommunications infrastructure,” said Clark.

“Since the first letters were sent we were told that this moratorium has been lifted, a few days later we were told that it was not, and at this point we are not sure. However we know that no new Right of Way approvals have been issued which is unacceptable”.

According to the FTTH Council it has only received a single communication from the EMM, in which they acknowledge the existence of the moratorium, but have to date not indicated the length or adequate reasons for such a moratorium.

In their response to EMM, the FTTH Council Africa indicated that it would welcome the prospect of engaging with the industry organisation, however the FTTH Council Africa responded that it will not engage with EMM until such time as the moratorium is lifted.

“The EMM’s letter regrettably did not contain a withdrawal of the imposed moratorium and our view is that EMM do not need to place a moratorium on deployment in order to do a network audit, or for the purpose of dealing with internal processes and that such a moratorium cannot be motivated,” said Clark.

“We have now referred this matter to our legal representatives, Mahons Attorneys, who will deal with the matter via the correct legal course and take the necessary steps. We have considered the severity of the implications of this matter and we have full faith that our case is clear and we should have the desired outcome.”

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