One of the biggest changes is ICASA’s (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa) decision to replace the ADSL access charge with a once-off installment.

The Regulator has also stipulated that a cap of 3G is not in line with international standards and will enforce a minimum cap of 10G.
 

Local bandwidth will not be subjected to the cap which is a very positive change and should stimulate local content provisioning.

Telkom have recently changed to a usage-based billing system which not only includes local bandwidth but it also enforces a hard cap whereby users cannot access local sites once they have reached their limit.
 

Telkom will also have to do away with distinguishing in price between prioritized and unshaped traffic. Currently unshaped ADSL accounts cost around two and a half times more than the shaped (prioritized) accounts.

Traffic shaping is not common in international services making the Regulator’s requirement to do away with this policy in keeping with international standards.

Twenty four hour resets are deemed unnecessary.

Telkom will further have to publish their contention ratios, introduce Service Level Agreements and increase installation time to 14 days within receipt of an application.

The draft regulations lead the way to ensure more affordable and internationally comparable ADSL services.

If these regulations take effect and is accepted in its current form by the relevant role players without litigation we should see mass uptake of broadband and the increased penetration needed to stimulate the local IT industry and the economy in general.