ICASA not reviewing interconnection agreements yet

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) said it will for now not review the interconnection amendment agreements as submitted by the country’s network operators.

“The Authority received interconnection amendment agreements between Vodacom, Cell C and MTN on the 25th January 2010. These agreements sought to bind the Authority to an undertaking not to review mobile termination rates until 1 March 2013.

For this reason, the Authority has decided not to review the interconnection amendment agreements as submitted,” ICASA said.

South Africa’s communications regulator added: “The Authority is committed to releasing draft regulations on the effectiveness of competition in the wholesale call termination market in March 2010.

” It is hoped that the outcome of these regulations will be a reduction in call termination charges as well as fair and equitable access to existing networks for all licensees.”

In January, Vodacom, Cell C and MTN agreed to reduce their interconnection rates amid complaints over the years that interconnection and call rates charges in South Africa were inflated and among the highest in the region.

by Goodman Majola