The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) recently released its “Chairperson and Council’s message for 2011”, shedding light on what their plans are for the coming year.<\/p>\n
In this message ICASA’s leadership extended a hand of engagement, cooperation and collaboration with all stakeholders in the industry.<\/p>\n
“For the Authority, the year 2011 represents an opportunity to re-commit ourselves to regulate communications and postal services sectors in the public interest, and to do so without fear or favour,” the statement said.<\/p>\n
Top of ICASA’s agenda is the objective to continue to licence new operators and come up with regulations that would enhance competition. This, ICASA said, is aimed at providing the South African public with choice and value for money.<\/p>\n
“Consumer protection and universal service and access are central to our mandate, as we strive to ensure that people with disabilities and rural and far-flung areas are not left behind in the country’s quest to create a knowledge and information society,” said ICASA.<\/p>\n
ICASA said it prides itself in delivering key projects over the past year, including:<\/p>\n
ICASA said that it is already hard at work at ensuring that spin-offs that accrue from this technological transition to a digital platform benefit all across the board. “The digital dividend should introduce more competition and choice in the broadcasting and electronic communications sectors, but also universal service and access,” said ICASA.<\/p>\n
The regulator said that it is currently embarking on a process of reviewing all existing Universal Service and Access Obligations (USAO); the purpose of which is to inform the need for a revised USAO regulatory framework and the development and publication of regulations in terms of the ECA.<\/p>\n
ICASA highlighted that flagship projects for the new year include developing Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) regulations, the Licensing of Spectrum in the 2.6 GHz and 3.5 GHz Bands, monitoring the local government elections as well as monitoring the impact of the Call Termination Regulations on the retail voice market with regard to affordability of services for consumers.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, ICASA will develop a regulatory strategy on broadband that will seek to bring a holistic approach to regulatory activities that are relevant to meeting Government’s policy goal of achieving universal access to broadband by 2019.<\/p>\n
Regulatory activities relevant to broadband include infrastructure sharing, local loop unbundling, a ten year plan for identifying and making spectrum available for broadband, the pending auction of the 2.6 and 3.5 GHz frequency spectrum, the allocation of the digital dividend and the removal of barriers to network rollout, particularly at municipal level.<\/p>\n
At the international level, the provision and regulation of information and communication technologies and services should play a vital role in regional economic integration. The past decade or so have seen increased interaction of the people of the SADC in various areas of public life.<\/p>\n
It is in this light that ICASA will, towards the end of March 2011, host, among others, the two Annual General Meetings of the Communications Regulators Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) and the Southern African Postal Regulatory Association (SAPRA), which will culminate in the merger of two organizations.<\/p>\n