ICASA says it ‘never flinched’

Many consumers remain bitterly disappointed with ICASA but its chairman says the authority never flinched from implementing its mandate.
In the recently published ICASA Annual Report its Chairman Paris Mashile says that, “Apart from the regulatory and operational vicissitudes outlined above, the Authority never flinched from implementing its mandate.”
Mashile further said that the Authority’s deliverables were guided by the quest to “promote affordability of services for consumers.”
Consumers not convinced
Consumers are however not convinced that ICASA is serving its purpose of ‘protecting consumers from unfair business practices, poor quality services and harmful or inferior products’ regarding ADSL.
A poor set of ADSL Regulations were published in August 2006, and despite commitments from Mashile himself that the regulations would be revisited, ICASA did not improve these regulations.
It further frustrated many ADSL subscribers that a year after the ADSL Regulations were released Telkom is still not in compliance. This is despite a massive 168 complaints to the Authority regarding Telkom’s alleged non-compliance with the regulations before April 2007.
To many consumers ICASA appears to be a toothless regulator running scared whenever larger operators like Telkom or the mobile players threaten legal action or challenge the regulator’s authority.
Consumers speak out
Consumers vented their frustrations on the MyADSL Forums after the recent ICASA Complaints and Compliance Committee hearings into Telkom’s alleged non-compliance with the ADSL Regulations.
“If ICASA was unbiased, we the consumer would not be abused for last 7 years,” said one commentator.
“It only confirms what everyone knows already: Icasa is in Telkom's pocket,” said another.
Many consumers also criticized Mashile’s recent comments that “We have decided to take the route that will present us with less litigation. The incumbents are loaded with legal weapons of mass destruction.”
This may send out the wrong message that ICASA may not seek to make decisions on the merits of submissions or the case before them, but rather to avoid legal action against them.
If Mashile’s statement is to be interpreted literally any legal threat from one of the larger players may be an effective weapon to swing the authority’s mind.
Source: mybroadband.co.za