Policy on Rapid Network Deployment

Abstract

The government of South Africa has issued a draft policy to accelerate network deployment. The legal basis is to be the Electronic Communications Act (ECA), but the policy intrudes into areas of property ownership and the powers of municipalities. Consequently, there would be no legal basis for the regulations it is asking the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to draw up. Moreover, the government is proposing to strip property owners of their rights under section 25 of the Constitution by allowing network operators to construct towers, install masts, lay underground cables and string aerial cables. The powers of municipalities are to be taken away, again in violation of the Constitution, by constraining their charges for wayleaves to administrative costs. The likely outcome is not to accelerate network deployment, but to cause delays while this is fought out in the courts.