South Africa’s Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Siyabonga Cwele plans to take legal action to review the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa plans to auction spectrum. Cwele said he studied the recently issued invitation to apply from Icasa and held two meetings with the regulator on 15 and 19 July, but that failed to resolve the matter, MyBroadband.co.za reported. The minister said Icasa was furthermore not prepared to subject itself to the intergovernmental cooperation governance procedures.
The Minister is concerned that Icasa’s invitation to apply for the auction was issued without consultation and prior notification to the government. The position of the government is that it is the custodian of spectrum, which is a national and public resource, and whose utilisation must benefit all the people of South Africa. The minister said Icasa had failed to adhere to the prescripts of the relevant policies, legislation and regulations. Cwele said a request to Icasa by government in September 2015 to halt this process after its published an Information Memorandum was ignored.
