Question NW2839 to the Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services
10 October 2017 - NW2839
Mackenzie, Mr C to ask the Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services
(1)Whether, with reference to his reply to question 2381 on 31 August 2017, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) met the deadline to submit its report into the capacity of the envisaged wireless open access network to him by 31 August 2017; if not, by what date is the report expected; if so, (a) which entities reporting to him, organisations, consultants and companies were interviewed by the CSIR and (b) what are the main outcomes of the specified report; (2) Whether any organisation, company, consultant and/or entity reporting to him declined to (a) participate and/or (b) participate fully after being approached by the CSIR; if so, (i) which organisation, company, consultant and/or entity declined to participate fully and (ii) what are the reasons in each case; (3) Whether any of the organisations, companies, consultants and/or entities approached by the CSIR withdrew from participation; if so, (a) which organisation, company, consultant and/or entity withdrew and (b) what are the reasons in each case?
Reply:
I have been informed by the Department as follows:
1. The deadline to conclude the study has been met; however, CSIR is in the process of finalising the report.
(a) The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) represented by Ericsson Huawei and Nokia; Chipset Integrators, represented by Intel and Qualcomm; Operator’s Forum represented by Cell C, MTN, Liquid Telecom (formerly Neotel), Rain (formerly iBurst/WBS), Vodacom, and Telkom and Internet Service Providers.
(b) The main outcomes will be specified in the final report.
2. None of the organisations or companies approached by CSIR declined to participate.
3. No organisations or companies approached by CSIR withdrew their participation.