Technology billionaire Mark Shuttleworth has slammed government’s failure to address problems bedevilling the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), warning ongoing capacity problems at the regulator are hampering economic growth.

Shuttleworth, speaking to TechCentral following Icasa’s decision last week to postpone an auction of valuable radio frequency spectrum, says there is no “clear prioritisation of telecommunications as a vital source of growth in the SA economy”.

“When a statement is made that Icasa is under-resourced, the real statement [that is being made] is that the folks who are trying to craft a strategy for economic growth and job creation in SA do not appreciate the economic importance and the relative straightforwardness of producing crisp, clean, clear and efficient regulatory leadership in telecoms.”

Though SA’s government is spending money to “get things right”, this is not the case in telecoms, Shuttleworth says.

“It’s really not rocket science. It’s well understood and doesn’t require vast amounts of resources. It just needs to be done well. And when done well it can make an enormous contribution to economic growth and efficiency,” he says.

“Government has persistently failed to recognise the link between sorting out Icasa and the economic benefits that can flow from a better regulated telecoms environment.”

Shuttleworth says Icasa has made a hash of the auction of spectrum in the valuable 2,6GHz and 3,5GHz radio frequency bands. Both bands are well suited to providing the next generation of wireless broadband services.

Shuttleworth says Icasa has not taken public submissions into account that would have helped it make the right choices in managing the spectrum auction process.

With support from the Shuttleworth Foundation — Shuttleworth’s social and policy foundation — the Open Spectrum Alliance, an SA industry body, last year hired a top spectrum auction expert, Karen Wrege, to provide advice to Icasa based on lessons learned from spectrum auctions around the world.

Steve Song, telecoms fellow at the foundation, went to “some lengths to bring in global expertise to consult with the regulator, to advise it on the experience of other countries, and to provide guidance on processes for the way the auction should be conducted”, Shuttleworth says.

That advice was largely ignored, he says.

Song tells TechCentral that Icasa has “made a mockery of the public consultation process” by failing to take public submissions into account.

“All the issues raised now, including the need for technology neutrality and in-band migration of existing spectrum holders, as well as the importance of clearly defined auction rules, were raised in our submission in July last year,” Song says.

“Icasa’s failure to acknowledge this input and then cancel the invitation to apply nearly a year later for the same reasons raised in our submission makes a mockery of the public consultation process.” — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral