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25
Oct 2009 |
Vodacom, MTN playing ICASA like a fiddle.
Consumers will have to wait a while longer for cheaper cellphone bills as the fight about high interconnection costs has angered Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda and left the industry divided. On Friday the country's top two cellphone operators, Vodacom and MTN, announced they were ready to reduce the interconnection rate by 19 percent in line with a recent government call. Cell C refused to team up with them, demanding a 40 percent reduction. MTN and Vodacom said their agreement proposes a blended |
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25
Oct 2009 |
Mobile providers intent on continuing to take consumers from behind.
The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) has given up on negotiating with cellphone companies on lowering tariffs. In a statement released on Friday, the authority expressed frustration about recent negotiations about termination rates, noting that mobile operators had nothing to put on the table. "As a matter of fact, Vodacom and MTN refused to disclose their bilateral mobile termination rate agreement at the meeting. "Given that the moral suasion process did not yield positive results, the |
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24
Oct 2009 |
Government + greed + Telkom shareholding = expensive broadband.
First, some facts. ADSL comprises 63% of broadband connections globally. In SA, ADSL comprises less than 40% of the broadband market, and until recently, an e-mail being sent via fixed line was in danger of being overtaken by continental drift! Second, six different network technologies (iBurst Wireless, IPWireless, UMTS (3G/HSDPA), Wi-Fi, Wimax and CDMA2000) cover all the major towns and cities, resulting in one of the widest choices of mobile/nomadic connectivity in the world. Another lesser known fact |
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24
Oct 2009 |
Cell colluders pull wool over regulators eyes.
Negotiations have broken down between South Africa's cellphone operators and the industry regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA, over cutting interconnection costs. On Friday Icasa met Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom and the Independent Service Providers Association over the long-running issue, but said later in a statement that "the moral suasion process did not yield positive results". Icasa will now be forced to follow a policy directive issued by the Department of Communications two |
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23
Oct 2009 |
Regulator nervously prepares for arrival of someone who knows what they're doing.
Parliament has approved communication minister Siphiwe Nyanda's choice for the ICASA position. Parliament's communications committee looks set to appoint ISPA treasurer William Stucke to fill the vacant ICASA council position, with at least three out of the four political parties set to support the nomination. Communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda's ministry officially informed the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications this week about his preferred choice, after politicians sent a shortlist |
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23
Oct 2009 |
Providers reach no clear agreement on how to best screw customers.
A second set of meetings, which intended to bring the interconnect debate to an amicable end, has broken down. The meeting was held by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) this morning in an attempt to persuade mobile operators to reduce the mobile termination rates. However, the regulator says the mobile operators brought nothing to the table and refused to disclose any information to ICASA on the cost of actual rates. In a statement released this afternoon, ICASA said: "After |
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23
Oct 2009 |
Clear agreement on how to best screw customers now reached.
MTN SA can confirm that an agreement has been reached with Vodacom, and is pursuing bilateral negotiations with Cell C and other operators. The two parties reached an agreement based on the parameters set in earlier negotiations, which have been underway for some time. However, it is with regret that no agreement has been reached with Cell C at this stage. These bilateral negotiations take place in terms of the regulations by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), which has over |
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23
Oct 2009 |
Bemused rage the order of the day.
MTN and Vodacom have decided to reduce the blended interconnection rate by 19% to 78 cents immediately, but ICASA chairman Paris Mashile and Independent Democrats (ID) leader Patricia de Lille are not impressed. The country's two largest mobile network operators made the announcement late this afternoon after the morning talks with telecommunications regulator ICASA broke down. I am not surprised they decided to go ahead with this announcement as they are trying to recoup the lost PR ground,Ӕ Mashile told |
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23
Oct 2009 |
But only 19 percent, may the fleas of a thousand camels infest their armpits.
Cellphone operators MTN and Vodacom on Friday confirmed an agreement to lower termination rates by about 19%. "MTN SA can confirm that an agreement has been reached with Vodacom, and is pursuing bilateral negotiations with Cell C and other operators," the firm said. In a seperate statement, Vodacom said the agreement proposes a blended interconnection rate of 78c which declines to 61c on a glide path. "However, it is with regret that no agreement has been reached with Cell C at this stage," MTN said. The |
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22
Oct 2009 |
Good time to hold them to their promise.
Cell C has broken ranks with the incumbent cellphone operators, calling for interconnect fees to be cut to 75 cents a minute from the present R1.25 and saying that the cut will mean that consumers will benefit from the lower prices. The dominant players, Vodacom and MTN, are meanwhile fighting a rearguard action, maintaining that lower interconnect fees will not necessarily mean lower call charges. Cell C also said there should be no differentiation between calls made at peak and non-peak times. |
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21
Oct 2009 |
But ICASA was too dense to realise it, or ignored it on purpose.
The means to cut interconnect rates to cost has been at the regulator's fingertips for the last five years. Local alternative operator, ECN, which has been at the forefront of the interconnect debate, says there are already regulations in place that requires interconnect to be at a cost sliding scale. In a surprise find, ECN CEO John Holdsworth says the company commissioned a legal review of the Chart of Accounts and Cost Allocation Manual (COA/CAM) regulations, which has been gathering dust since its |
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21
Oct 2009 |
Gov grabs its moneymaker by the scruff of its neck.
Parliament wants Telkom to resume reporting to it and justifying its plans, says Ismail Vadi, chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications. Speaking yesterday to a Department of Communications (DOC) delegation, which included director-general Mamodupi Mohlala, Vadi asked: Why, if Telkom is not listed on the New York Stock Exchange and government owns 39% of it, does it not report to this committee?Ӕ He also asked the DOC if Telkom was still listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange |
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20
Oct 2009 |
iBurst goes iRetrench, effective iMmediately.
Wireless broadband operator iBurst is reducing its headcount by about 20% as part of a restructuring meant to cut costs and improve efficiencies. TechCentral understands that about 60 or 70 employees are affected by the cuts, which are being done through a voluntary retrenchment process. WeӒve been through this restructuring which means we need fewer people, says iBurst CEO Jannie van Zyl, pictured. The company, which is part-owned by Vodacom, is looking for ways to operate more efficiently and may even |
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19
Oct 2009 |
Price fixing great, until someone finds out.
MTN and Vodacom are in the price-fixing spotlight as the Competition Commission subpoenas key people in the telecoms industry to provide information related to allegations against the companies. The broadening of the commission's investigation of possible price fixing by the cellular operators comes days after they appeared before Parliament's portfolio committee on communications to discuss the reduction of interconnection rates. Commissioner Shan Ramburuth would not comment on how many people were |
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19
Oct 2009 |
Profit-ridden MTN and Vodacom not too pleased.
South Africa's smallest cellular operator, Cell C, has said lowering interconnection rates to 60c would further hamper its chances of making a net profit. Cell C has yet to produce a net profit eight years after its launch. Its struggle to turn around its losses is mainly due to the high interconnection fees it has to pay to rivals MTN and Vodacom, which have 17.2 million and 27 million customers, respectively. Cell C has about 7 million subscribers. Cell C chief executive Lars Reichelt said an interconnect |
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