Mobile networks say they haven't been given enough time.
- Frederik Herholdt
- May 16, 2018
- 2 min read
South African mobile network operators have said that the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has not given them enough time to comply with the new regulations.
On the 7th of May the ICASA has published its new End-User and Subscriber Service Charter regulations in the government gazette. Network operators were given 30 days to comply with the new regulations: The new regulations prohibit network providers from charging their subscribers out-of-bundle rates on usage without the subscribers' consent. The regulations now also require networks to offer the ability to transfer data to another subscriber on the same network, and unused data should be rolled over instead of expire.
Operators are concerned about the ICASA’s implementation deadline:
Cell C
Cell C said that they still need to do a lot of work before being able to be fully compliant to the ICASA's new regulations. “To comply with all of the provisions, numerous system configurations will need to be made followed by testing before live implementation,” said a Cell C spokesperson.
“The 30-day timeframe stipulated by ICASA to implement the changes is not achievable, even with the best will in the world. We advised ICASA of this fact, but they proceeded to issue the regulations with this time period still included.”
Telkom
“We are encouraged by the direction of the regulations, as this will enable us to continue to differentiate our products and provide subscribers with cost-effective choices,” said a Telkom spokesperson.
“Telkom is making every effort to ensure that we meet the requirements before the stipulated deadline, however, there are a number of products and systems impacted.”
Vodacom
Shameel Joosub, Vodacom CEO, is planning to abide by ICASA’s new regulations, and changes required are to be implemented by the deadline of 8 June.
“We are working hard to be technically ready to meet the deadline as best possible,” he said.
MTN
MTN said it is studying the regulations to understand the requirements and how to implement them. “MTN offers a wide variety of products, which are very diverse in nature. With this in mind, MTN is analysing the regulations in order to understand how to implement the requirements in a practical manner.”
Posted 16 May 2018 | Frederik Herholdt
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