A big win for telecoms in South Africa

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa), 31 August 2008

In what can be described as a big win for telecoms in South Africa, the Pretoria High Court has blown the door wide open to increased competition in the telecoms sector. The Court has done this by ruling that Altech has the right to build its own network.

This comes after Altech went to Court to force the review of ICASA’s licensing process. The Court has now in effect ruled that ICASA’s licensing process is flawed and that Value Added Service Providers (VANs) such as Altech have the right to build their own networks. This means that more or less 300 ISPs and data carriers now have the right to build their own networks. Those that can afford it no longer have to make use of the networks of licensed infrastructure providers such as MTN, Neotel, Telkom and Vodacom. This will definitely help to place downward pressure on the price of ADSL and other broadband alternatives. The above mentioned licensed infrastructure providers, especially Telkom, will now have to lower the cost to make use of their networks or stand to lose even more when VANs start building their own networks (those who can afford it).

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