[10 April 2014] The Department of Communications will host roundtable discussions involving all those who made submissions to the Green Paper early in June. This will be by invitation only.

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Roundtable Session Date Time
e-Services 02 June 2014 9am – 2pm
Infrastructure & Services 03 June 2014 9am – 2pm
Content 04 June 2014 9am – 2pm
ICT Industry Growth 05 June 2014 9am – 2pm
Institutional Frameworks 06 June 2014 9am – 2pm

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[3 March 2014Minister’s Speech at the National Consultative Conference

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[1 March 2014] The Department of Communications has convened a National Consultative Conference on the Green Paper to be held at Emperor’s Palace on 3 March 2014. The event is by invitation only.

Further hearings have been scheduled for provincial centres:

Provincial workshop dates are as follows:

– North West – 7 March
– Mpumalanga – 14 March
– Eastern Cape – 20 March
– Limpopo – 20 March
– Kwa-Zulu Natal – 24 March
– Western Cape – 25 March
– Northern Cape – 27 March
– Free State – 27 March

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[7 February 2014] The deadline for submissions has been extended to 24 March 2014. According to the Department of Communications national public hearings on the Green Paper will be held on 3 March, and will be followed by provincial public hearings.

More from the DoC

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[25 January 2014] The National Integrated ICT Policy Green Paper was gazetted on 24 January 2014 and will be open for comment until 24 February 2014.

National Integrated ICT Policy Green Paper 2014.

Submissions should be addressed to

The Director-General, Department of Communications

For attention: Ms. Mameetse Mphahlele, Head; ICT Policy Review Project Management Office

Block C, iParioli Office Park, 1166 Park Street, Hatfield, Pretoria Private Bag X860, Pretoria, 0001

Tel: 012 427 8522/012 420 7701; Fax: 012 427 8016; GreenPaper@doc.gov.za

Chapter headings and the policy questions posed for each section are set out below:

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Policy Area Policy Questions 
Chapter 1: Green Paper  
Chapter 2: The Context for Policy Review  
Chapter 3: Current State of the SA Communications Sector  
Chapter 4: Postal Service Infrastructure and Content
  • Is the distinction between reserved and unreserved services a clear one in practice? Should this distinction be maintained into the future? If so, is the scope of the monopoly broad enough to fund universal service obligations?
  • How can SAPO’s infrastructure be leveraged to rollout government services?
  • Should the Postbank continue to be a subsidiary of SAPQ or should it be a stand-alone fully-fledged independent banking institution?
  • How do we ensure the right of every citizen to an address? Should government continue subsidising SAPO in order to fund universal service?
  • What role should operators in the unreserved segment of the market play insofar as universal service is concerned?
  • What role can SAPO play in the roll-out of broadband?
Chapter 5: Enabling environment for Communications
  • Should policy promote either a facilities-based or service-based competition environment? Alternatively is there a case for a hybrid competition environment in which both these modes exist?
  • What mechanisms are required to ensure effective co-ordination of broadband infrastructure planning and rollout?
  • Notwithstanding current policy interventions to promote availability and access in the under-serviced areas, the local loop remains a great challenge. Should LLU policy be advanced, and if so, what are the principles which should underpin LLU policy?
  • What other policy interventions can reduce the Significant Market Power (SMP) of the oligopolies in the South African communication sector?
  • What considerations should inform the new policy and regulatory regime concerning the spectrum management taking into account the anticipated revision of the frequency spectrum regime? Is there a need for a separate agency to regulate spectrum?
Chapter 6: Digital Information Age: E- services & Cybersecurity
  • Are the regulatory mechanisms adequate to protect consumers in the e-ecommerce environment?
  • What kind of effective institutional arrangements should be in place to build a robust e-commerce environment in South Africa?
  • Are the current legal measures adequate to deal with cybercrime in South Africa?
  • What institutional arrangement(s) are required to deal with cybercrime both nationally and regionally?
  • What are best tools for fighting cybercrime, in terms of policy, regulations and institutions? What other issues should be considered in dealing with cybercrime in South Africa?
Chapter 7: Information Technology
  • How can the country’s IT competitiveness be further enhanced?
  • Are there further opportunities for the export of IT products, knowledge and skills?
  • Has government’s FOSS policy been a success?
  • In addition to the above, what other factors are critical for the future growth of the IT market?
  • What role can be played by SMEs in the IT market value chain?
Chapter 8: Broadcasting
  • What new regulatory approaches should be adopted to support innovation, access to affordable services and the creation and promotion of a diverse range of high-quality South African public interest programming to all audiences?
  • Is there a need to review the definition of broadcasting services, given the changing environment, in order to ensure that identified public interest objectives for the sector are met? If so, how?
  • How should policy ensure that there is diversity of services and content and that ‘audiences have access to international, national, provincial and local news, information and other programming of relevance to them given that new services will not be limited to specific licence areas?
  • What key issues should be considered in relation to spectrum allocation to ensure that the public interest, cultural, social and economic objectives linked to audio-visual and audio content services are met?
  • What objectives should the SABC prioritise? How should the mandate of the SABC, as described, be funded? Are the current funding arrangements adequate to fulfil all the requirements placed on the SABC in law? What should the role of government as the shareholder of the SABC on behalf of the public be?
Chapter 9: Universal Service & Access
  • What strategies for increasing the affordability of access to ICTs, particularly for low-income users, should be adopted and how should the cost of providing services to needy communities, government institutions particularly schools and clinics be| reduced?
  • How should government take responsibility for all types of UAS across the ICT sub-sector, telecommunications, broadcasting and postal services?
  • Should the universal access and service obligations continue in their current format?) Are they sufficient for addressing the universal access challenge in light of new technological and market realities in South Africa?
  • In a converged environment, should there be differences in the treatment of operators in the different sub-sectors (broadcasting, telecoms and postal) insofar as USAO and the USAF are concerned?
  • Are the roles of USAASA, MDDA and ICASA still relevant given developments in the sector?
Chapter 10: Promoting Investment in the ICT Sector
  • Given this Economic Climate, how can the South African ICT Industry attract and sustain the Investments?
  • How do we grow the domestic market amid the high levels of imports without undemanding our trade agreements and what other industry-specific support mechanisms both (direct and indirect) should be implemented so that the sector rejuvenated to create jobs and revive South Africa’s excellence?
  • The value of IP does not necessary lie in its registration but its use. How can we promote the use of local IP to drive innovation in the ICT sector?
  • Considering the economic climate characterised by limited domestic capital, how can South Africa balance FDI and local ownership of ICTs, particularly in those highly regulated sectors such Broadcasting and Telecommunications services?
  • How can we re-engineer ICT SMME development so as to enable them to participate across the entire ICT value chain?
Chapter 11: Skills Development of the Future
  • How can South Africa maximise its human e-Skills capital to take advantage of new technologies to become a more effective part of the Knowledge Society?
  • What strategies can be put in place to meet the sector’s human resources needs?
Chapter 12: Institutional Arrangements
  • How can the provisions for ministerial policy directives be improved without undermining the | independence of ICASA? What changes would safeguard the regulator’s independence and at the same time ensure transparent interaction between ICASA and government? What other mechanisms could be used to ensure alignment between policy and regulation?
  • Is the existing structure of ICASA appropriate to regulate the converged environment? How should ICASA be funded?
  • The provisions dealing with universal service and access are contained in all the communication laws and policies. Is the institutional arrangement between the decision makers adequate to fulfil the universal service and access provisions?
  • The provisions of the Electronic Communications Act on Universal Service Fund separate the management of the Fund from the determination of under-serviced areas. The definition of needy persons is also separated from the management of the Fund. Is this the best mechanism to promote effective use of the Fund? What measures can be developed to foster cooperation?
  • The domain names are taking on increasing importance as their commercial value rises, and as global internet and e-commerce increase. Cyber-squatting took on global proportions until regulatory regimes dealt with the registration of names by persons not entitled to them. Should South African names that are intrinsically of national importance or relevance be treated differently from corporate or brand names for reasons of public interest?

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