Regulatory Compliance Service

Overview | How Ellipsis can help | What the service includes | What the service excludes | Further information

Holders of electronic communications service (ECS) and/or electronic communications network service (ECNS) licences issued by ICASA are required to comply with the terms and conditions of their licences as well as a number of other regulations ranging from those requiring payment of annual licence fees to requirements to submit various reports throughout the year and respond to requests for information from ICASA.

ICASA has been ramping up the enforcement of these obligations, by conducting inspections to determine licensees’ compliance standing and referring non-compliant licensees to the Complaints and Compliance Committee (ICASA-CCC). Several licensees have been found to be non-compliant with the regulations or the reporting requirements by the ICASA-CCC, and have been subject to a fine or other sanction.

ICASA has confirmed that this trend towards enforcing compliance with its regulatory framework will continue.

Ellipsis has developed simple, practical solutions tailored to assist licensees in meeting their compliance reporting challenges. Our packages are structured as monthly retainers, and pricing and other information can be requested by sending an email to sam@ellipsis.co.za with your licence details.

The regulatory compliance reporting services contemplates the provision of assistance with ICASA compliance reporting obligations on a retainer basis (minimum period of 12 months). The retainer service includes:

• Development and maintenance of a Regulatory Compliance Calendar.
• Assistance with standard reporting requirements in terms of the standard terms and conditions of the licences, including submission of sectoral planning information on a quarterly basis and company information annually and on request from ICASA.
• Assistance with compliance with the Code of Conduct Regulations, including the development and/or refinement of a Code of Conduct for publication and preparation and submission of bi-annual reports on same.
• Assistance with reporting obligations under the End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Regulations, including the determination of relevant quality of service criteria for the reports, the development and/or refinement of a Service Charter (if required) for publication, and the development, preparation and submission of bi-annual reports on same.
• Assistance with ensuring compliance with the regulatory requirements for consumer complaints, specifically the development and/or revision of a Complaints and Billings Disputes Procedure for publication and preparation and submission of bi-annual reports on same.
• Reporting as required on the E-Rate Regulations and the Disability Regulations.
• Notifying ICASA of tariff launches/changes and promotional tariffs following receipt of same, and preparation and submission of bi-annual reports on tariffs.
• Assistance with the preparation of annual Number Audit Reports (if required) and submission of same.
• Assistance with the Annual Licence Fee payable to ICASA annually, including advising on how to determine applicable revenue, attending to calculations for same, and attending to the preparation and submission of the forecast and final reports.
• Assistance with the USAF Contribution payable to ICASA annually, including advising on how to determine applicable revenue and deductions, attending to calculations for same, and attending to the preparation and submission of the report.
• Provision of notification of ad hoc compliance requests from ICASA, including the ITU Short Questionnaire, the ITU Long Questionnaire and the ICT Sector Questionnaire, and submitting the final documents as prepared by the licensee to ICASA.
• Preparation of inspection reports and email and telephonic communication with ICASA Inspectors for annual ICASA compliance and Code of Conduct inspections.
• Acting as the first point of contact for all ICASA compliance and financial matters.
• Retention of all compliance reporting documentation for record-keeping, along with calendar showing reports submitted each year.
•  Note that historic compliance reporting is not included in this retainer unless specifically agreed in writing.

The retainer service is limited to compliance reporting services, as set out above. The service will not cover anything which falls outside of the services as detailed above; this includes but is not limited to opinions, advices, regulatory submissions and advising in respect of same, all advices and attendances in respect of historical or future shareholding changes and/or HDG/BEE compliance/transactions, notices of change of details, licence renewals, numbers applications, spectrum and type approval applications, licence and licence-exemption registrations, licence transfer applications, transfer of control applications, and CCC responses and representations. Please see our Services page for further information on other services offered.

For further information on the regulatory compliance reporting services retainer including pricing or to sign up for the service, please contact Sumaiyah Makda.