Acts Online
GT Shield

Electronic Communications Act, 2005 (Act No. 36 of 2005)

Regulations

Reasons document and Authority's analysis on Stakeholder comments on the Amendment of the Call Termination Regulations, 2024 in accordance with sections 4(7)(b) and 67(8)(a) of the Act

2. Introduction

 

2.1 The Authority engaged in a review of the pro-competitive conditions imposed on licensees in terms of its Call Termination Regulations, 2014. A Findings Document was published on 28 March 2022 in which the Authority reviewed the market for wholesale voice call termination services as well as the effectiveness of competition in the telecommunications market. The Authority made various determinations including the following:
2.1.1 licensees must charge cost-based pricing;
2.1.2 mobile termination rates will move to symmetry within a transitional period of 12 (twelve) months;
2.1.3 new licensees will qualify for asymmetry for a limited period of 3 (three) years following entry into the market;
2.1.4 South African licensees must charge reciprocal international termination rates for voice calls originating outside of South Africa; and
2.1.5 Fixed and mobile voice services are in separate markets. Nonetheless, the cost modelling process might reveal the impact of any convergence between fixed and mobile services.

 

2.2 The Authority published a notice of commencement of the cost modelling phase with respect to the review of pro-competitive conditions imposed on the relevant licensees in terms of the Call Termination Regulations, 2014 (as amended) on 26 May 2023. The Authority stated inter alia that, “having determined that there are still competition issues in the call termination market that may require regulatory intervention in its Market Review Phase, the Authority is now embarking on the Cost Modelling Phase in order to determine the efficient cost of providing wholesale voice call termination services”.1 The purpose of this notice was to outline the next steps and the timelines with respect to the cost modelling exercise. The bottom-up (‘BU’) and top-down (‘TD’) shell models were published on the Authority’s website together with the notice.

 

______________________________________

1 Government Gazette No. 48660 at para 3.2, p 429. Available at https://www.icasa.org.za/legislationand-regulations/call-termination-rate-review-notice.