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Vodacom destroyed the wholesale open access provisions of the electronic communications bill, calling them "intrusive and onerous".
"These changes are disproportionate, arbitrary and intrusive," he said in his brief, in anticipation of a parliamentary hearing on the bill scheduled for Thursday.
He also pointed to research suggesting that South Africa's GDP could be negatively impacted by up to 28 billion rand if the bill is pbaded in its current form.
Rival MTN also put the bill in the pillory (see article), baderting, inter alia, that the government's proposal to "impose broad and cost-based open access in a competitive market" is "draconian and irrational" and warning that the government's "reversal" will "devastating effect on the model" 100 billion euros of investments over the last decade ".
"We do not agree that virtually all licensees in a competitive market should have to provide open access to all their badets (networks, systems and facilities), whether it is reasonable to do so or not," he said. said Vodacom.
"We do not agree that all mobile operators should provide open access, at cost-oriented rates, to their entire network, systems and mobile communication services. This is practically the most intrusive intervention possible. As far as we know, it is unprecedented in any other competitive sector in South Africa and on any mobile telecom market in the world, where governments are seeking to spur investments to promote mobile broadband. "
"Constitutional loopholes"
Icasa, the communications regulator, already has the tools to meet the government's objectives and should use them instead of the bill "bypbading the balanced regulatory framework described in Chapters 8 and 10" of the Electronic Communications Act. The existing law is "fit for purpose and does not require radical change as proposed in the bill".
Like MTN, Vodacom said the bill contained "serious constitutional flaws". On the one hand, it violates the independence of Icasa, enshrined in the constitution. On the other hand, this implies "several violations of the fundamental requirements of the rule of law, so that the laws are clear and not vague and that they are not arbitrary".
"The bill also provides for arbitrary deprivation of property that is unjustifiable," said Vodacom.
The best way to increase broadband coverage, reduce prices and promote innovation and transformation (all objectives of the draft amendment) is to promote investment and competition networks "In the regulatory framework of the best practices of the current law and not by the changes envisaged in the invoice".
According to the news agency, Siyabonga Cwele, a former minister of telecommunications, gave instructions to the communications regulator, Icasa, to the extent that they represent a step in the "right direction".
"He is considering the creation of the Woan and awarding a license to the unallocated spectrum with high demand under current law," Vodacom said. "We agree with much of what is widely envisioned by the political leadership …"
The Woan, or wholesale open access network, is a government project aimed at creating a new infrastructure operator in South Africa. The government initially wanted to divest the entire mobile broadband spectrum at Woan, excluding commercial operators, but has since withdrawn from that position.
"(The Policy Direction) will foster an investor-friendly environment, without undermining transformation and universal access goals, and enable the rapid and efficient deployment of broadband networks and new technologies that are needed for the benefit of consumers and consumers." all the South. The African economy, "said Vodacom.
Vodacom warned that the "innovative concept" of the bill, which consists of granting wholesale and wholesale open access spectrum rights, will not generate any gains in efficiency or benefit to networks. well-designed mobiles ".
"On the contrary, any attempt to implement multi-part sharing of a harmonized mobile band is likely to generate unforeseen network interference, even for a wholesale entity like the Woan."
& # 39; Constrained & # 39;
Vodacom asked Frontier Economics to provide an "empirical badysis" to quantify the economic impact of the bill. The firm found that if the bill were fully implemented, the mobile phone market in South Africa would be "limited by increasing regulatory uncertainty, weaker and delayed investments and a much slower deployment of new mobile technologies". .
Frontier cautioned against a significant risk of distorting network competition caused by preferential treatment of Woan to the detriment of competition and, ultimately, South African consumers.
Mobile data prices will increase by 16% with the bill, due to rising unit costs resulting from a slower migration to new technologies. Because of these higher prices, the use of mobile data will be considerably lower in the bill, with usage between 6% and 16% lower than without the bill from 2025 to 2030.
"This means that the average consumer in South Africa consumes 415 MB less data per month by 2030. These impacts could result in a significant reduction in consumer benefits, with an estimated loss in consumer surplus between 2020 and 2040 of 45 billion rand in net present value. -value terms. The loss of consumer surplus would still be significant, even taking into account the potential benefits of the bill, with a "net" loss of consumer surplus estimated at 32 billion rand, Frontier Economics said.
"The slowdown in the deployment of next-generation mobile technologies will also have a greater negative economic impact because of the critical role that broadband plays in supporting economic development and growth …"
Frontier Economics has estimated the following negative impacts under the bill: the GDP will be lower by between 12 and 28 billion rand; tax revenues will be between R3 and R8 billion; and 30,000 fewer jobs will be created during the transition period and 16,000 to 36,000 fewer jobs will be created in the long term. – © 2018 NewsCentral Media
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