[21 September 2016] We have received the following communication from ICASA regarding licence-exempt resellers of electronic communications services:

“In line with compliance with the licensing framework and the related regulations, all entities that operate as resellers are required to register with the Authority prior to embarking on the activity.

List of currently registered resellers in the market

Any entity that is not listed means it is not registered with the Authority as a reseller, hence is operating illegally.

Kindly take guidance from:

  1. Section 6 of the ECA;
  2. Section 7 of the ECA;
  3. Regulations regarding Licence Exempt Electronic Communications networks, Electronic Communications Network Services and Electronic Communications Services in terms of section 6 of the Electronic communications Act, 2005 as amended, published 29 July 2008, gazette No.31289
  4. Form M in the Licensing Process and Procedure  Amendment regulations 2010, published 14 June 2010, gazette No.33297

All entities that partake in the activity of reselling any licensed services to the public are thus required to register with the regulator, kindly ensure that such entities reselling your services are doing so within the regulatory and legislative requirements. Provincial inspection will be conducted in due course to ensure adherence to the requirements.”

This relevant notice published by ICASA can be seen at the following link.

If you need any assistance with registration as a licence-exempt reseller please contact rolf@ellipsis.co.za.

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[29 December 2015] ICASA is undertaking a regulatory impact assessment (RIA) relating to the activities of resellers of electronic communications network services (ECNS) and electronic communications services (ECS). The point of the RIA is to determine whether there are any issues to be addressed in the resale markets and, if so, what kind of intervention is appropriate. Outcomes may include forbearance (i.e. doing nothing) or a regulation-making process or recommendations on amendments of legislation / regulation.

After an initial consultation – RIA – Reseller Informal Questionnaire Phase I – with some licensees and stakeholders, ICASA has provided what it terms a “problem statement” together with a set of options for proceeding.

General Notice -RIA – ECS-ECNS Reseller – Problem Statement 20 Dec 2015

The problem statement provides an accurate assessment of challenges ICASA faces:

At present it is difficult to know the exact number of resellers in the market due to lack of clarity on what a reseller is as well as the exemption process. There is no existing criteria that entities can use in order to identify themselves as resellers in order to apply for the exemption as contemplated by the ECA. Different upstream providers whom are licence holders engage resellers differently, with some requiring entities to hold licences.

There is no linkage between entities operating as resellers and mechanism in place to hold resellers accountable and responsible for the products and services they provide in the market. Likewise there is no mechanism to link the upstream provider with reseller so as to hold the two accountable and responsible for the products and services
in the market.