TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      State capture probe ends but South Africa remains ‘broken’ by corruption

      23 June 2022

      Vivica Group, formerly Vox, looks beyond ICT

      23 June 2022

      Protests break out at Eskom plants

      23 June 2022

      South Africa scraps public mask mandate

      23 June 2022

      Crypto is not too big to fail

      23 June 2022
    • World

      Crypto crash survivors could become ‘tomorrow’s Amazons’

      23 June 2022

      Tether to launch a stablecoin tied to the British pound

      22 June 2022

      Tech giants form metaverse standards body, without Apple

      22 June 2022

      There are still unresolved matters in Twitter deal, Musk says

      21 June 2022

      5G subscriptions to top one billion in 2022: Ericsson

      21 June 2022
    • In-depth

      The great crypto crash: the fallout, and what happens next

      22 June 2022

      Goodbye, Internet Explorer – you really won’t be missed

      19 June 2022

      Oracle’s database dominance threatened by rise of cloud-first rivals

      13 June 2022

      Everything Apple announced at WWDC – in less than 500 words

      7 June 2022

      Sheryl Sandberg’s ad empire leaves a complicated legacy

      2 June 2022
    • Podcasts

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E06 – ‘Apple Silicon’

      15 June 2022

      The youth might just save us

      15 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E05 – ‘Nvidia: The Green Goblin’

      8 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E04 – ‘The story of Intel – part 2’

      1 June 2022
    • Opinion

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022

      How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

      8 April 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»News»Telkom’s 8ta loses fees battle at Icasa (updated)

    Telkom’s 8ta loses fees battle at Icasa (updated)

    News By Editor7 February 2011
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    Telkom has lost its bid to charge other mobile operators a higher interconnection rate than it would have paid them, dealing a blow to its new mobile subsidiary, 8ta.

    Interconnection fees are what operators charge one another to carry calls between their networks. The Independent Communications Authority of SA’s (Icasa’s) complaints and compliance committee has ruled that 8ta is not entitled to a preferential rate.

    However, Icasa has left the door open for Telkom to seek asymmetry. The operator has also won the right to route call traffic along whichever route means it deems fit. This is after MTN and Cell C sought to stop 8ta from routing traffic using the most efficient (and presumably cheapest) means.

    Telkom lodged three separate complaints with Icasa against Vodacom, MTN and Cell C between June and August 2010, asking the authority’s complaints and compliance committee to intervene in deadlocked discussions over interconnection rates.

    Telkom, which launched its mobile network in October, wanted to charge the other operators 93c/minute to carry calls onto its new network, while they’d pay it a lesser rate of 89c/minute in peak calling times.

    The operator argued that as a new market player it should be entitled to levy different rates. It also argued that if should receive the preferential rates, as it said it was “structurally disadvantaged” as a result of unequal assignment of radio frequency spectrum, economies of scale, and scope.

    Icasa was in the process of finalising new “termination rate” regulations when Telkom lodged it complaints.

    Vodacom and MTN disputed whether the complaints and compliance committee had jurisdiction to rule on the matter. Despite these objections, the committee decided it did, in fact, have jurisdiction.

    Not only has the committee now ruled that Telkom is not entitled to a preferential rate, but it’s also said that it may only charge 6c/minute to terminate calls from community service telephones in underserviced areas — the same rate charged by its rivals.

    The ruling has been backdated to 28 October 2010, the date the new call termination regulations came into effect.

    However, Icasa has left the door open for Telkom to take the matter further. The new regulations allow smaller operators to apply for an asymmetric rate — under the new regulations, any player that has less than 25% of terminated minutes is entitled to apply for an asymmetrical rate.

    This means Telkom could rekindle its plans to charge an asymmetric rate, an opportunity it’s unlikely to pass up.  — Candice Jones, TechCentral

    • Subscribe to our free daily newsletter
    • Follow us on Twitter or on Facebook
    8ta Cell C Icasa MTN Telkom Vodacom
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleFive telecoms trends to watch in 2011
    Next Article Revolution set to sweep business IT – Accenture

    Related Posts

    State capture probe ends but South Africa remains ‘broken’ by corruption

    23 June 2022

    Vivica Group, formerly Vox, looks beyond ICT

    23 June 2022

    Protests break out at Eskom plants

    23 June 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Huawei P50 now available for pre-order in South Africa

    23 June 2022

    Calabrio paves way for SA’s cloud contact centre WFO journey alongside AWS

    23 June 2022

    More than card machines – iKhokha diversifies to reach more SMEs

    22 June 2022
    Opinion

    Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

    21 June 2022

    Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

    13 June 2022

    A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

    19 May 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.