Pretoria – Broadband Internet access in general and mobile broadband in particular have become increasingly important to national economies and the personal lives of users and consumers. This has led to the recent outcry over the high cost of communications and in particular, data.

In heeding the call for lower cost of communication, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has published (on 16 November 2018) a notice of its intention to conduct a market inquiry into mobile broadband services as another intervention to reduce the high cost of communication.

The market inquiry is seeking to assess the state of competition and determine whether or not there are markets or market segments within the mobile broadband services value chain which may require regulation in the context of a market review in terms of section 67(4) of Electronic Communications Act.

“This particular market inquiry is the third intervention by ICASA, after the amendment and publication of the End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Regulations and the Call Termination Regulations in the recent past. Our intention is to improve transparency of communication services as well as address the cost of communication in South Africa,” says ICASA Council’s Botlenyana Mokhele.

ICASA has also published a questionnaire requesting information and opinions from market participants and interested stakeholders. This information will be considered when defining those markets or market segments deemed to be relevant; evaluate the effectiveness of competition in the relevant markets; and determine which licensees have significant market power  (and where competition is ineffective) in this regard.

All questions relating to this inquiry can be communicated through the following email address: MarketInquiry2018@icasa.org.za.

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