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Govt altered MTN's 3G licence

12/10/2012 00:00:00 KWANELE DHLADHLA

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MBABANE - Government altered Swaziland MTN’s 3G licence to remove a clause that allowed the Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC) to provide wireless broadband services.

The amended licence issued by government 26 days after the initial licence was issued by SPTC gave Swazi MTN powers to become the only authorised mobile company to offer wireless mobile data services in the country.

According to the 3G licence issued by SPTC, as regulator of the communications industry, on August 25, 2011, restrained Swazi MTN from being the sole mobile company authorised to offer mobile data services.

However, when government took over the regulatory powers from SPTC, Swazi MTN moved an application to be granted an upgraded version of the similar licence, which was eventually issued by government on September 22, 2011.

The new licence revoked the previous 3G licence and legally declared Swazi MTN as the only authorised company to offer the mobile data services.

"This licence revokes the two 3G licences previously issued to Swazi MTN, these being the 3G licence issue(d) by the Director of Communications and Regulator dated August 9, 2011 and the 3G licence issued by the Managing Director, Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation dated August 2011.

"The revocation is in terms of the SPTC Act of 1983 Section 59 (4) and Section 70 (4)," reads the licence issued by government where Swazi MTN was then granted powers to be the sole mobile company to provide wireless mobile data services.

The upgraded ‘controversial’ licence was issued under the hand of the Director of Communications, Mandla D.S Motsa, in terms of Sections 59 (1), 59 (2) and 59 (4) together with Sections 70 (1) and 70 (4) of the SPTC Act of No. 11 of 1983.

3G, meaning 3rd Generation Network, is a term used to represent the third generation of mobile telecommunications technology. This is a set of standards used for mobile devices and mobile telecommunication services and networks that comply with the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) specifications by the International Telecommunication Union.

3G finds application in wireless voice telephony, mobile Internet access, fixed wireless Internet access, video calls and mobile TV.

The most affected services by government’s decision to alter Swazi MTN’s 3G licence were SPTC dongles that were shut down about three weeks ago; because the corporation would have been at liberty to continue with their wireless data product if the licence had not been changed.

According to reliable sources within the corporation, the current SPTC network has the capacity to provide mobile data services for about 18 000 users, while about 10 000 dongle gadgets were bought from SPTC since inception.

Winnie: No comment

MBABANE - Minister of Information, Communications and Technology, Winnie Magagula, declined to comment on the issue of the altered 3G licence.

"You are asking the wrong person; I think the regulator would be in a better position to comment concerning the matter you are asking me about," Magagula said.

The Director of Communications Mandla Stan Motsa also shared similar sentiments.

"Licences are issued under a strict requirement of confidentiality and I am not permitted to discuss them with third parties. To this end, I would state that I am not able to provide you with the information you request of me," Motsa said.

Ruling

SPTC closed down their communication gadgets following a ruling issued by the International Court of Arbitration to the effect that SPTC had breached the 1998 Joint Venture Agreement with Swazi MTN.

The JVA stated that SPTC was not supposed to introduce a project that would be in competition with any of the partners in the agreement. Therefore, SPTC was ordered to shut down the services and also pay E30 million damages.

However, three legal experts have argued that the arbitration award, in its present state, was not yet enforceable as it had not been made an order of court.

On the other hand, the Attorney General, Majahenkhaba Dlamini, also argued that the arbitration order was enforceable because according to the New York Convention, making an application before a local court was optional.

Upgrade

Noteworthy is that SPTC spent E277 million to upgrade their system for the Next Generation Network (NGN). The NGN is a network communication package that includes the defunct ONE mobile phones; Fixedfones and data gadgets which include dongles.

The E277 million includes network connection payment fees made to Huawei, transmission backhauling, fibre cables installed at all base stations and available stock which cannot be sold following the shutdown two weeks ago.

COMMENTS:

- it is so paiful that we, the public, have to pay for other peple's mistakes or greediness. if u have a laptop & u are using mtn netwrk, u now need to part with not less than E200 to able to update it. initially, u were able to use the minimum of E10. since our government is led by selfish people, how long are we going to suffer in this country. lo sptc uvalelwe kutsi sigcilateke?
October 12, 2012, 10:00 am, a.m. gamedze

- From these facts contained in this story you get the sense that we have organized crime masquerading as cabinet! This cabinet needs Jesus like today!
October 12, 2012, 10:00 am, Anonymous

- This is corruption and favoritism at best! Cabinet sees a speck in other people's eyes and yet they're carrying a big log in theirs. Why does gov't LOVE MTN and hate SPTC so much? We the people want ONE fones because we believe in ONE LOVE.
October 12, 2012, 10:00 am, Hounorable Citizen

- Why is Phemelela the Act MD dancing with the same minister of ICT who's trying to destroy SPTC? Where's the rhythm in that? By the time the song finishes there'll be no more SPTC and Phumelela will find himself dancing alone and Winnie Nxumalo will be nowhere to be seen,,,
October 12, 2012, 10:00 am, Just Asking Myself

- One day these people pose as leaders and labouring under a false sense supirioty and impunity will face criminal prosecutions. I hope The Almighy God give us the general public and victims the opportunity to see them squirm and try to wiggle their way out the mess they have put themselves in namely land grabs, public shares grabs, abuse of office and power, theft by false pretenses, waste of public resources and the general pains and sufferings they have caused upon the thousands and thousands of our most disadvantaged due to greed and self-interest.
October 12, 2012, 10:00 am, Dzingiswako

- If true they altered MTN's 3G licence then let's all say it here a now, we have a seriously corrupt government. Probably they used the altered version of the 3G licence to ensure SPTC lost the court case with ICA.We need a national forensic probe on the general operations of government. The major suspects will be certain cabinet personnel. This should cover things like crown land stolen to see if it was returned as per the king's directive, the SPC/MTN war, shares held by government officials in MTN and how they got them in the first place, etc. There's more than meets the eye here
October 12, 2012, 10:00 am, Mandla

- I thought Winnie had resolved that she would snub SPTC? But its so refreshing to see her getting down with Acting MD, although it will take more than just a dance to sort out the impasse at SPTC. Whilst Stan Motsa may be entitled to his opinion on the non-disclosure regarding the license, I have difficulty understanding why a license should be kept private anyway. I mean really, the fact that it is a license says to me it is a public document, in fact MTN must like all other businesses in the country, display it in their offices. Sometimes we hide what does not deserve hidding, and in and the process create unnecessary suspicion as in this instance.
October 12, 2012, 10:01 am, Burns Dlamini ( Lobhoncela)