Telecoms regulator Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has deferred a decision on the application by Tata-led operator Neotel for the transfer of control of its licences to the South African arm of mobile giant Vodacom.
"Following the January 2015 hearings held by ICASA on the application by Neotel for the transfer of control of its licences to Vodacom, the Authority has received further submissions from some interested stakeholders as well as Neotel and Vodacom," the regulator said in a statement on Friday.
"In the interests of fairness the opportunity to submit additional comments had to be extended to all interested stakeholders, followed by Neotel and Vodacom having the right of reply to all comments received. There was no word though from the regulator on a deadline for finalisation of the matter.
"It is incumbent on the Authority to consider all relevant information in the process of reaching its decision. The Authority is currently analysing all submissions before it, and will make a decision in due course and make an announcement once such decision had been made," ICASA said.
Neotel applied to ICASA last year to transfer control of all of its licences to Vodacom, as a result of a 100 per cent acquisition of Neotel by Vodacom.
But the acquisition has met with a great deal of opposition, including from the Wireless Access Providers Association (WAPA), which said it had the potential of Vodacom dominating the market.
Neotel was started in 2007 when it won the licence for a second national fixed line operator to break the monopoly of state-owned Telkom.
The company has built more than 15,000 km of fibre-optic cable in that time, making it an attractive acquisition for mobile operators seeking to extend their base to consumers and business through the converged services that Neotel has established.
Supported by Tata Communications technology, Neotel has provided a range of value-added voice, internet and data services for businesses, wholesale network operators and providers and retail customers using its IP Next Generation Network.
