Icasa overshot limits, says Cwele’s counsel
THE Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) had a legal duty to wait for the publication of the government’s white paper on information and communications technology before it auctioned off high-speed broadband spectrum, counsel for Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Siyabonga Cwele said on Tuesday.The company or companies that are to obtain the licences over the rare spectrum that Icasa plans to auction off will be able to provide superfast 4G data download, giving them a huge competitive edge in the mobile market.Despite objections by Cwele, Icasa is pressing ahead with the auction, setting a date for May 2017.It is insisting that there has been an inordinate delay by the government in making policy and that Icasa, an independent institution under the Constitution, has a duty to go ahead.But Cwele’s counsel, Vincent Maleka SC, said in the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday that Icasa’s independence had limits and that it had failed to keep within them. Under...
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