‘Icasa decisions erratic’ – Telkom

TELKOM chief executive Sipho Maseko lashed out at the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) yesterday, accusing the regulator of making erratic decisions amid the requirement for a 30 percent black equity threshold for applicants in the spectrum licence auction process.

Speaking during the the company’s annual general meeting held in Johannesburg yesterday, Maseko pulled no punches on the controversial process, calling for Icasa to account for its actions.

“We have noted the 30 percent threshold on black economic empowerment by Icasa. We do not know the logic Icasa followed. We hope we will work with them to understand what informed those requirements.”

Maseko said Icasa needed to be accountable for its actions, and cited the case in which Vodacom was given approval to acquire Neotel.

Maseko said Icasa made “rules on the run”.

“You cannot make rules as you go. It is not right, there are billions of rands of budgets we need to work with.

“If rules are erratic and random, it creates a problem. We need to have a predictable regulatory environment.”

Threshold

Maseko said the state-owned telecoms company did not have a problem with the 30 percent threshold, but needed to understand the logic.

“Why is the empowerment threshold 30 percent and not 29 percent? Show me the reasoning why (they) came to that threshold. This goes to the heart of the rules.”

Icasa has invited companies to apply for licences within the 700MHz, 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands. The spectrum will be used for the roll-out of mobile infrastructure. It requires licences applicants of a minimum of 30 percent.

This week, MTN announced plans to sell a 4 percent stake for R9.9 billion to meet empowerment requirements of the spectrum licensing process.

The radio frequency spectrum licensing process is expected to see new entrants in the lucrative telecoms industry.

The AGM was held amid the widening rift between Telkom and the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which is demanding an 11 percent wage increase across the board.

Maseko said Telkom had spent a lot of time with organised labour on the longterm strategy of the company through bi-lateral and multilateral basis.