Vodacom head rejects open access call
Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub has criticised a call for mobile network operators to make their infrastructure available to other companies, saying the process, called open access, has never worked anywhere in the world.
Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub
The government recently released the integrated information and communication technology white paper policy in which it calls for the implementation of open access to facilitate the entry of new companies in the sector and introduce infrastructure sharing.
"There isn't a case that this (open access) has worked in the world," Joosub said.
Speaking at the MyBroadband conference, Joosub said open access on mobile networks was "difficult".
However, there were already "different forms of sharing" infrastructure through roaming agreements. Moreover, there were already companies that had opened their fibre networks to other firms.
Joosub said it would make sense for an open-access model to be adopted for the new 5G, as that would be the "dawn of a new technology".
Telkom chief commercial officer Brian Armstrong said the policy acknowledged the convergence of fixed and mobile services and also the concentrated nature of the mobile network market.
It proposes an accounting separation of dominant incumbent operators with significant market power and potential mandatory sharing of their radio access network infrastructure.
"We are of the view that this is an important first step towards creating a healthier industry that will better serve consumers," he said.
Source: Business Day
Source: I-Net Bridge
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