[ad_1]
Sipho Maseko, CEO of Telkom
Sipho Maseko, CEO of Telkom It said on Tuesday that the company informed its lawyers to “consider and advise” it on the options available, given its deep dissatisfaction with the invitation from communications regulator Icasa to request (ITA) the 4G and 5G broadband spectrum.
Maseko suggested during a presentation at Telkom’s interim results presentation for the six months to September 30, 2020 that the company could take legal action against Icasa for what it considers material flaws in the ITA, particularly when it comes to guaranteeing a competitive mobile sector.
“… The ITA either ignored or gave insufficient weight to promoting competition as an important consideration in licensing high demand spectrum,” Maseko said via a webcast of the results.
“Any action we take will be designed to ensure that there is regulatory certainty, fairness, legality, and also that there is rapid licensing of high-demand spectrum. It cannot be done unfairly because that lowers the level of certainty for everyone. “
Telkom has become increasingly agitated in recent years by the relative strength of Vodacom and MTN in South Africa’s mobile sector. Cell C’s recent withdrawal from building and managing its own radio access network means that Telkom is the only major operator still offering infrastructure competition to Vodacom and MTN. (Data-only operator Rain is relatively small in comparison and has tied its fortune to Vodacom.)
Although Telkom plans to participate in the ITA and the spectrum licensing process, Maseko cautioned that this “should not be construed as a tacit agreement with him.”
‘Ineffective’
“We believe that competition in the mobile sector is ineffective. Spectrum licensing is one of the most powerful tools in the hands of the regulator to restore the unbalanced structure of the market and promote competition. But Icasa missed the spectrum licensing opportunity to address the monopolistic nature of the market, ”said Maseko.
“We believe that they have ignored the conclusions and recommendations of the Competition Commission that (Icasa) should not grant spectrum licenses in a way that strengthens the monopoly. The way the ITA is designed, be it spectrum or batch limits, in a way … that puts Telkom at a disadvantage as the only credible infrastructure competitor to the monopoly of the two biggest players. The limits proposed in the ITA ignore the fact that the spectrum is already available to the duopoly through spectrum agreements between them and the smaller licensees. “
Telkom is already challenging Vodacom’s network roaming agreements with Rain in Competition Court, saying the agreements constitute a reportable merger under the Competition Law. This is despite previous findings from the Competition Commission and Icasa that the agreements passed the regulatory meeting. Telkom has also voiced complaints about a similar agreement between Vodacom and Liquid Telecom for the deployment of 5G services and between MTN and Liquid for 4G services, although these are not the subject of the lawsuit in court.
Unless Icasa’s ITA is rewritten, the “current duopoly will be entrenched for at least 20 years,” Maseko said. “There is an urgent need to level the playing field before these long-term commitments are made. Therefore, we have initiated proceedings with the Competition Tribunal to ensure that the competition implications of the spectrum assignments between Vodacom and Rain are fully assessed and that the sector is regulated according to those results. “
“We have also submitted written and oral communications to Icasa that its mobile broadband services investigation (currently ongoing) should consider the spectrum licensing implications of the mobile broadband market and that spectrum licensing it must be informed by the public assessment of spectrum arrangements between the smallest and largest players … to understand its impact on competition. “
Maseko also expressed reservations about the amount of spectrum to be awarded to the planned wholesale open access network, or Woan, and said that Icasa “missed an opportunity to enable Woan as an effective competitor to the duopoly, including for 5G services, given the limited spectrum that it has been given ”. – © 2020 NewsCentral Media
