publishes wholesale call termination findings document
19 November 2007
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa has published the
findings of the consultation for the market definition of the wholesale call
termination market undertaken in terms of section 4B of the Icasa Act. The
findings document has been published in Government Gazette No 30449, Government
Notice 1627 of 9 November 2007. The Authority is required to publish its
findings in terms of a section 4B inquiry not more than 180 days after the
conclusion of such an inquiry.
This document is the result of consultations with industry and interested
parties that began with the release of the Wholesale Call Termination
discussion document in January 2007. Hearings were held in May 2007 at which
further representations were made.
Call Termination is a wholesale input, used by providers of calls from
fixed-line and mobile networks to complete calls to subscribers connected to
other networks. It is one of the larger costs to operators associated with
providing telecommunications services to subscribers.
The following markets have been explicitly proposed in the findings
document:
* wholesale call termination on Vodacom's network in South Africa
* wholesale call termination on MTN's network in South Africa
* wholesale call termination on Cell C's network in South Africa
* wholesale call termination on Telkom's network in South Africa
* wholesale call termination on Neotel's network in South Africa
* wholesale call termination on all other Electronic Communications Network
Service (ECNS) providers' networks in South Africa, so long as they provide
call termination on their networks. This will include call termination on Under
Serviced Area License (USAL) networks
* wholesale call termination on all other ECS providers' networks in South
Africa, so long as they are in a position to set call termination rates on
their networks. This will include call termination on Voice-Over-Internet
Protocol (VOIP) networks.
This findings document precedes the regulation making process envisaged in
terms of section 67 of the Electronic Communications Act. Regulations required
by this section will be published for comment in the coming weeks.
Enquiries may be directed to:
Ms Nomvuyiso Batyi
E-mail: nbatyi@icasa.org.za
Mr Steve Esselaar
E-mail: sesselaar@icasa.org.za
Media enquiries to be addressed to:
Sekgoela Sekgoela
Tel: 011 321 8434
E-mail: ssekgoela@icasa.org.za
Issued by: Independent Communications Authority of South Africa
19 November 2007
