Leon Perlman
Despite Post and Telecommunications Minister Pallo=20 Jordan’s nyet to allowing competition with state=20 telecommunications monopoly Telkom, insiders say it’s=20 now not a matter of whether, but rather when and how=20
The recently released Green Paper on Telecommunications=20 is the initial step to formulating a White Paper on=20 telecommunications policy and eventual legislation,=20 which is expected to go through Parliament early in=20
It is designed to elicit the public’s views on the best=20 policy framework for telecommunications and its=20 regulation, and so asks more questions than it answers.=20 Jordan, however, provided some answers when he released=20 the Green Paper at the Carlton Hotel in Johannesburg.
His comment that, ”it is not in the national interest=20 to bring competition against Telkom,” at first seemed=20 slightly out of sync with international trends and even=20 with his own Green Paper which states: ”Competition in=20 the telecommunications sector can bring costs down and=20 hence prices to customers. New operators can bring=20 additional investment into the sector.”
Jordan seemed to be warning off United States=20 Telecommunications giant AT&T, which is eager to be=20 that ”new operator”. ”AT&T and other international=20 competitors will be cherry-picking. There will be no=20 Telkom left. It will be subversive to the interests of=20 the country, so I will not even think about it.”
Observers believe Jordan is being pressured by elements=20 within the African National Congress and the South=20 African Communist Party to keep Telkom’s monopoly=20 intact. ”Telkom is the collective property of the=20 people of the country. We must involve the millions of=20 South Africans who are its principal beneficiaries,” he=20
The apparently bemused head of AT&T South Africa, Frank=20 Coleman, who was in the audience while Jordan expressed=20 his forebodings, responded by saying: ”You give us far=20 more credit than we deserve.”
That is too modest. AT&T is a major player in the=20 Southern African telecommunications sector. It is the=20 progenitor of the Africa ONE initiative to ring the=20 African continent with a high-capacity, fibre-optic=20 cable. Observers believe AT&T is poised to clinch the=20 major portion of the R6-billion ”MegaLine” tender to=20 supply some one million new lines to (mainly) rural=20 areas. That puts Jordan’s comments into context.
Insiders say Jordan’s caveat about the ”danger of=20 competition” is directed more at concerns about the=20 degree of the direct competition for Telkom’s fixed- line service, than a categorical dismissal of the=20 possibility of any competition.
Before a formal decision on the equity of Telkom can be=20 made, the objectives and visions that will emerge from=20 public and parliamentary discussion on the Green Paper=20 will have to be studied.=20
Jordan gave the assurance that competition would be=20 welcomed once telecommunications were accessible to all=20 South Africans. With the MegaLine initiative promising=20 to do just that, the long-awaited competition for=20 Telkom could be here sooner than some would like.
Comment and proposals about the Green Paper must be=20 made in writing by September 15. Jordan will hold a=20 live Internet discussion, via the Internet Relay Chat=20 facility, on the Green Paper on August 15.