South Africa’s communications regulator ICASA has published draft regulations designed to tighten pricing operations at Sentech, which is the government-owned transmission business. Sentech handles the nation’s transmission of broadcast TV and radio signals. The publication of the new draft rules, in the government’s official Gazette, follows on from a one-year investigation into Sentech’s pricing structure. […]
South Africa has amended its ‘Black Economic Empowerment’ (BEE) rules, allowing Starlink to operate via rural school internet investments instead of insisting on the traditional – and to date rigid – 30 per cent equity stake for local people and businesses. The decision could pave the way for rapid satellite broadband rollout amid digital divide […]
Local reports in South Africa say that Communications Minister Solly Malatsi is poised to give a policy direction which will permit SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system to operate in the country. Malatsi’s move will have to be approved by the nation’s regulator Icasa and will likely to require Starlink to invest in local businesses in order […]
South Africa’s communications regulator ICASA has issued a draft set of digital terrestrial broadcasting regulations. ICASA has set out the frequencies which will be allocated for public broadcasting, commercial free-to-view, subscription and community broadcasting. The new rules, when implemented, will replace older legislation in place for more than 10 years although largely ignored because analogue […]
Starlink is unlikely to gain permission to operate in South Africa any time soon, according to a local communications sector expert. Dominic Cull, a regulatory expert at communications sector legal advisory firm Ellipsis, said it will be at least two years before new regulations will be in place to allow for equity equivalents – and […]
SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system is not authorised or licensed by South Africa. Recent discussions between SpaceX and South Africa’s licensing authorities could see this prohibition lifted. However, there are reportedly thousands of Starlink users in South Africa. The users have imported equipment from neighbouring states where Starlink is authorised and have accessed Starlink via its […]
SpaceX currently cannot operate in South Africa despite some apparent enthusiastic support from Cyril Ramaphosa, the nation’s president. SpaceX has formally asked for local telecoms regulator ICASA to modify its requirements. ICASA is to hold consultations starting on February 5th and 6th with interested stakeholders and the public. The filing is by SpaceX Internet Services […]
South Africa’s MultiChoice Group, itself now considerably under the influence of Canal+, has admitted it is facing financial headwinds. It will publish its full numbers on November 12th, but in a trading update issued on November 7th it said it has moved from a profit at the same time last year to a loss now. […]
The October 2nd raid by South Africa communications regulator Icasa on satellite broadcaster StarSat was deliberately damaging said StarSat officials. Senior technical staff were at the broadcaster’s Johannesburg head office and tried to tell Icasa and the police during the raid which equipment operated their systems. But, says StarSat, this advice was ignored and cables […]
South African telecoms regulator Icasa has raided the offices of StarSat and closed the pay-TV broadcaster down. On October 2nd, aided by police, Icasa staff removed computers and cables at StarSat’s head office in Johannesburg. StarSat marketing manager Jan Harmse told local journalists that the raid came as a shock despite Icasa ordering StarSat to […]