Two pieces of legislation affecting the industry were poorly written and are likely to be badly implemented, MTN's MD, Maanda Manyatshe, said.

The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act requires all existing mobile subscribers and anyone buying a new SIM card to show their identity book and have their details captured on a database. This legislation will take effect in July.

That could stifle mobile take-up in the informal sector and make small businesses stop selling SIM cards because of the onerous conditions, according to Manyatshe. MTN supported the interception bill as many criminal cases had been solved with the help of mobile call records, he said. However, requiring operators to register all existing users within a year meant physically inspecting and capturing the identity details of 8,000 people every hour.

Cell C's head of regulatory affairs, Karabo Motlana, agrees the act will impose technical requirements that rural sellers of mobile services are not set up to handle. Potential customers unable to buy a prepaid starter pack without showing ID and proof of residence may choose not to subscribe, he says.

The second law, the Electronic Communications Act could be interpreted in many different ways, Manyatshe said. The act was supposed to increase competition and broaden the choice of services, but it required months of rewriting to ensure that government, the industry, consumers and the regulatory authority would not interpret it differently, he said.

The act forces any operator deemed to hold "significant market power" to let other service providers use its network infrastructure at cost price, rather than allowing the operator to charge a commercial fee for the use of its network. Manyatshe believes the act killed any incentive for stronger operators to invest in their infrastructure, as they would not be able recoup their input costs.

Source: Business Day - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News