About 50 companies licensed at value-added network service (Vans) providers of a total, out of a total of more than 500, must still furnish information to have their new telecommunications licences processed.
All Vans licensees — many of them are small Internet service providers — were entitled to new licences following technology group Altech’s stunning 2008 high court victory against then communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri that liberalised the market.
The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) says it has given the remaining 50 Vans licensees until 10 December to confirm all their details with the authority or risk having their licences revoked.
An additional 24 licences have not yet been converted fully. However, Icasa says it is working with them to sort out whatever details need to be resolved.
The authority has repeatedly called on the remaining 50 companies to submit all the required details to finalise licence conversion and will not budge on its final deadline.
The companies, which Icasa won’t name yet, should technically have provided all their details 90 days after their licences were converted in January 2009.
Of the 500 licensed operators, few have deployed their own telecoms networks. — Candice Jones, TechCentral
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