Ellipsis » universal service

Hearings into Draft Underserviced Area Definition Regulations

dom — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:02:25 +0000

Update 26 January 2012: these hearings have been postponed indefinitely as a result of the strike action at ICASA. According to a Media Release stakeholders will be informed of new dates in due course.

Hearings will be held at ICASA on the 20th January 2012 as part of the process of finalising regulations setting out the definitions relevant to universal service and access in South Africa.

Draft Regulations & Explanatory Memorandum – Under-serviced area definition (6 October 2011)

Notice of Hearings to be held in respect of the Draft Underserviced Area Definition Regulations

_________________________________________________________________________

Organization Time
_________________________________________________________________________

1. MTN 09H00-09H25
2. Telkom 09H30-09H55
3. Neotel 10H00-10h25
_________________________________________________________________________

TEA BREAK 10H30-10H45
_________________________________________________________________________

4. Cell C 10H50-11H15
5. SABC 11H20-11H45
6. Vodacom 12H00-12H25
7. SALGA 12H30-12H55
_________________________________________________________________________

LUNCH 13H00-13H45
_________________________________________________________________________

8. Sentech 13H55-14H20
9. Smile Communications 14H25-14H50
________________________________________________

Determination with regard to universal access and universal service

dom — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 21:19:11 +0000

The Department of Communications has issued a determination under section 82(3) of the Electronic Communications Act of 2005 (“the ECA”) setting out what is to be regarded as constituting (a) universal access by all areas and communities in South Africa to electronic communications services and electronic communications network services, and (b) universal provision for all people in South Africa of electronic communications services and access to electronic communications network services.

Determination of Universal Access to and Universal Service of Electronic Communications Services and Electronic Communications Network Services (Feb 2010)

The Determination also sets out universal access and universal service targets which be applicable for at least the next two years. It is not clear at this time how these targets will be applied to holders of ECS and ECNS licences.

Review of Universal Service and Access Obligation (USAO) framework

dom — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 21:06:10 +0000

ICASA has launched a long-overdue review of the regulatory framework surrounding the attainment of Universal Access (UA) and Universal Service (US) in South Africa through the publication of a Discussion Document and an accompanying report on the extent to which the existing framework has succeeded (or failed).

At the heart of the debate is whether SA should retain a system of imposing Universal Service and Access Obligations (USAOs) on licensees or whether we should move to a methodology which sees licensees participating in competitive processes using funds from the Universal Service and Access Fund (USAF) and voluntarily assuming obligations in the event that they are succesful in such process.

Another burning question is what to do with the USAOs imposed on incumbent operators such as Telkom and the mobile networks under the Telecommunications Act. It is apparent from the report on compliance that very few of these obligations have been met and that the incumbents seem to blame a lack of clarity from ICASA and the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) for such failure.

Note: the Discussion Document and Report are too big for upload. They can be obtained on request or from the ICASA website.

USAO Compliance Review Report

Public hearings were held on 8 and 9 December 2010 – USAO Review Hearings Schedule

The following written submissions were made to ICASA:
CSIR
Intel
ISPA
MNET and Multichoice
MTN
MWEB (.doc)
NAB (.doc)
Neotel
Qualcomm (.doc)
SABC (.docx)
SACF
SALGA
Smile (.doc)
Telkom
Telkom submission regarding attaching USAOs to spectrum
Transnet
Vodacom

The report was based on answers received to the following questionnaire:
ICASA Concluding Questionnaire

Inquiry into definition of "underserviced" in Cell C licence

admin — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:16:59 +0000

Download the ICASA Inquiry into the Definition of Under-serviced Area in the Cell C Licence (PDF)

Note on the ICASA Inquiry into the definition of Under Serviced Area (USA) in the Cell C licence
Due: 30 July 2008

This is an Inquiry in terms of section 4B of the ICASA Act which flows directly from the High Court ruling in favour of MTN in respect of the review proceedings which MTN brought against ICASA for approving certain roll out plans submitted by Cell C in respect of Community Service Telephones (CSTs).

The High Court on 26 February 2007 ruled that ICASA had not properly applied its mind to the matter and ordered it to consider it anew. Accordingly they have published this notice so that industry can assist them to determine whether Cell C has complied with its obligations under its licence.

Cell C