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SCCOM ACTS AS COMPETITION WATCHDOG

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MBABANE – Is the Swaziland telecommunications industry joining the bandwagon of the over regulated industries in Swaziland.


This question emanates from the fact that the Swaziland Communications Commission (SCCOM) is now hell-bent on addressing competition issues among the industry players. Ideally, competition issues are dealt with by the Swaziland Competition Commission (SCC).
The fact that SCCOM is now dealing with competition issues in the telecommunications industry is displayed by its move of conducting a study on market definition, analysis and determination of dominance in the telecommunications industry.


SCCOM is a regulatory body established in terms of the SCCOM Act, 2013, responsible for regulating the electronic communications sector in Swaziland including, telecommunications networks, services, broadcasting services, postal services, the use and allocation of radio frequency spectrum and e-commerce.
The commission is also required in accordance with Section 23 (1) and the ECA, to periodically define and carry out an analysis of relevant markets to national circumstances.


On the other hand, SCC is a statutory body charged with the administration and enforcement of the Swaziland Competition Act of 2007. The mission of the SCC is to strengthen the nation’s economy by promoting and securing robust economic competition and consumer protection.


The commission is mandated to monitor, regulate, control and prevent acts or behaviour which are likely to adversely affect competition in the country. Against this backdrop, SCCOM has conducted a study that touches on issues of competition within the industry which is something that borders on the core functions of the SCC.


The study was to find out whether or not there is competition in the market for fixed access, national voice calls, and broadband (fixed voice market) as well as mobile access, national voice calls and SMS within Swaziland (mobile voice market.
In particular, the study considered whether or not one or more operators had magnificent market power, thus dominant in the market as required in terms of section 23 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2013 (ECA).
For purposes of the study, the presence of Swazi Mobile in the market was predicted and its potential performance forecasted but its current market share and conduct were not analysed.

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