The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) is gearing up to do battle with Telkom and does not seem keen to negotiate with all parties that are opposing its plan to allocate spectrum.
ICASA was yesterday interdicted by the North Gauteng High Court following an urgent application by Telkom to halt the spectrum auction, claiming the process was flawed and the regulator must address its concerns before proceeding with the allocation.
The court granted the order but ICASA is vowing to fight, with chairperson Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng saying: “In commitment to our public interest mandate, the council of ICASA has resolved to exhaust all legal avenues in respect of this process.”
Modimoeng says although dismayed by the decision, ICASA remains resolute that the licensing process shall in due course be finalised.
“We have never been so close to licensing high-demand spectrum. We were literally three weeks away from auctioning this much-needed resource that would have seen South Africans benefit through this process in terms of reduced data costs and improvement in quality of service and experience.”
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