According to recent reports, Cell C has dropped its lingering court case against the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) over its mobile termination rate (MTR) regulations.
MTRs are the fees mobile operators pay one another to connect calls between their networks, and has been a controversial issue since early 2014.
ICASA’s initial attempt to change MTR regulations benefitted smaller operators Cell C and Telkom Mobile. However, it was forced to revise its regulations when Vodacom and MTN brought the matter before the high court, which ruled it as invalid.
As a result Cell C and Telkom Mobile lost asymmetrical advantage and at the time Cell C’s CEO, Jose Dos Santos said, “Cell C is disappointed by the dramatic U-turn Icasa has made in its approach to remedy the current market failure and promote competition in a duopolistic market.”
Cell C said that its decision to withdraw the review against ICASA is because the process took too long. “The decision to withdraw follows a lengthy process of more than a year of obtaining the record from ICASA, finalising the papers in the review application and obtaining a court date for the hearing,” explained Cell C’s Chief Legal Officer, Graham Mackinnon.
“Icasa welcomes Cell C’s decision to withdraw its application as it vindicates Icasa’s view that the regulations were both lawful and procedurally fair,” commented the regulator.
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