No accurate invoice from Icasa: iBurst CEO

·9 Apr 2013

iBurst CEO, Thami Mtshali says that the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has never provided the company with an accurate figure on how much they should pay in license fees.

The iBurst network was taken down on Wednesday, 3 April, after inspectors from Icasa entered the premises of WBS, including the company’s data centre, and seized network equipment without prior notice.

Icasa explained that it has adopted a hard-line approach to non-compliance with regard to the collection of outstanding radio frequency licence fees.

“As a result, Icasa inspectors commenced with investigations that led to the crackdown on WBS last week,” said Icasa.

Mtshali told BusinessTech in an interview that Icasa’s actions came out of the blue, without any warning or explanation from the regulator.

He said that they were still in discussions with the regulator regarding the fees payable when Icasa inspectors raided their premises, causing millions in damage.

Recent reports suggested that Icasa is looking for around R60 million in outstanding license fees from iBurst, but Mtshali dismissed this figure.

“The regulator never gave us a final amount payable,” said Mtshali. “We get one number from the regulator, another number from the finance department and another number from the Icasa council.”

The iBurst CEO said that he has already told the regulator that he will settle any outstanding amount over a period of time. This, he said, made the raid on iBurst even more uncalled for.

Icasa was asked for comment on how much iBurst owed in license fees, but the regulator did not respond by the time of publication.