“Unheard of profits” by networks: Minister

“For too long now many role-players have made unheard of profits, at the expense of our citizens,” Minister of Communications, Yunus Carrim, said in a speech for the IT Leaders Africa summit on Tuesday, 18 March 2014.

For this reason, Carrim said that they welcomed the decision from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) to examine the state of competition in the information and communication technology sector.

Ensuring the competitiveness of the market is part of the Ministry’s new national broadband policy, which they have named “South Africa Connect”, Carrim said.

Carrim explained that policy is made up of four pillars, the first of which is called “Digital Readiness”. This pillar aims to remove policies that constrain the competitiveness of the market, Carrim said.

“I understand that ICASA will ask stakeholders in the industry to provide feedback on its inquiry before holding public hearings,” Carrim said.

“This will, I understand, lead to a draft position paper, which will also be subject to public comment before a final paper is produced,” he added.

“It will be good if you participate in this process,” Carrim encouraged.

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