Will the real puppet master please stand up?

It's been two weeks since my last post, and the industry has been racked by turmoil, changes, cancellations and terminations. Interesting times, I have to say.

So after much toing and froing, ICASA decided to cancel the spectrum auction. Why? Because it would not work. Now this has happened after the industry has made how many calls on the auction, the process and even the ITA?? (interestingly enough, it took the Minister of Communications saying that the process is flawed before the auction was cancelled - I'm sensing a serious puppet and string scenario playing out here)

That said, there was tremendous hope and excitement around the fact that the spectrum would finally be made available and that finally the smaller players would have the opportunity to finally facilitate more competition in the market. Now we have to sit and wait with bated breath to find out when exactly the opportunity will present itself to acquire more spectrum.

Then of course there is the whole DoC debacle. I am seriously beginning to wonder about the abilities of certain individuals within the department - surely you should put the industry's best interest first? Then again, that's probably my naive dream of a liberalised telecoms industry speaking.

What I find fascinating is the fact that all this controversy seems to revolve around tender processes. Now it's not like we have the best reputation in terms of transparent processes as it is, so it does raise some doubts as to whether the DG was possibly in the right place at the wrong time and is now paying for it. Definitely worth keeping an eye on this as it unfolds :-) - that whole where there's smoke there must be fire scenario.

Of course this debacle is just another stumbling block in our long journey towards liberalisation of the industry. Just imagine how different the country would be if we had actual competition, market-related pricing and true broadband available?

Now that's a dream worth having!

Curiosity prevails

It has been a while - can't believe that the FIFA 2010 World Cup has come and gone already! For 6 weeks all we saw and heard about was football - so much so that some interesting announcements were made that did not quite get the airtime they deserved.

So, let's take a step back and look at what's been happening. The telecoms industry was very excited about the opportunity to get their hands on much sought-after spectrum, but when ICASA released the ITA it was full of gaps. So, when this was pointed out by industry players, the deadline was extended. Then the Minister of Communications stepped in, pointing out that there are gaps and that he was not comfortable with the ITA - so we face the possibility of the entire process being delayed - AGAIN.

Speaking of ICASA and the Minister of Communications, very curious appointment this new chairperson of ICASA. While his CV shows that he clearly has the experience in the ICT sector, he is 70, which means he's now coming out of retirement to chair ICASA for 5 years. My personal belief is that this is a bit fishy - has he been appointment due to a relationship with the DoC? Will he just be another figure-head, to be ordered around at the whim of the DoC? I don't know - I sincerely hope my concerns are unfounded - I mean what is the point of having an independent regulatory body that is not independent. And it will really do a lot of damage to the work that has been done to date to liberalise the industry (yes, we all have our perceptions on what has been achieved to date and whether it has had any impact).

Anyway, enough rambling from me for the moment. Will be keeping a close eye on the spectrum auction process, because there are well-founded fears about what the outcome may be.

But more on that later...