On Thursday, 19 September 2024, ICASA will host public hearings to review Cell C’s request to transfer control of its licences to The Prepaid Company (TPC). ICASA published this on a notice in the Government Gazette.
In December 2023, Icasa announced Cell C’s request to transfer its I-ECS, I-ECNS, and spectrum licences to The Prepaid Company (TPC), a Blue Label Telecoms subsidiary and Cell C’s largest shareholder.
On 6 December 2023, Icasa published a notice in Government Gazette No. 49831 regarding Cell C’s applications to transfer its licences.
The notice invited written responses from interested parties within 14 working days. The deadline for submissions was later extended to 22 January 2024, and responses to 12 February 2024.
By 22 January, Icasa received six written submissions, with stakeholders also requesting to make oral presentations.
The deadline for Cell C’s response was extended to 15 March 2024, which was met accordingly.
Public hearings on these applications are scheduled for Thursday, 19 September 2024.
However, Cell C has withdrawn its application to transfer the 10 MHz Lot in the 3500 MHz RFS band from the 2022 Spectrum Auction, so this will not be addressed during the hearings.
All interested parties are invited to the hearings, which will take place as follows:
Date: 19 September 2024
Venue: Courtyard Hotel, Waterfall City, Midrand
Time: 08:30 AM (SAST)
Please also read: GUGU LOURIE: Regulators must protect CellSAf in brawl over Cell C
Blue Label bid for control of mobile operator and its licences could be bad news for empowerment partner
The commission concurred, stating that Blue Label had indeed acquired control of Cell C. “After assessment of the above submissions by CellSAf and engagement with Cell C, the commission has taken the view that there has been an acquisition of control of Cell C by Blue Label,” the Competition Commission ruled.
Fast forward to the present, and the proposed transfer of Cell C’s spectrum and licences has rekindled the battle between shareholders.
Also read:
Cell C vs CellSaf: Is It A Case Of Goliath Being Favoured By Regulators?
By Gugu Lourie
The case of Cell C versus its empowerment partner CellSaf has become a David and Goliath battle.
CellSaf, a small lightweight empowerment partner, is battling against a heavyweight opponent backed by three conglomerates – Cell C, JSE-listed tech firm Blue Label Telecoms, and JSE and Nasdaq-listed Net 1 UEPS Technologies (Net 1).
The background to this battle is rooted in 2001 when Cell C launched, and CellSaf was celebrated as a victory for empowerment owning a 40% of the mobile phone operator (which has since shrunk to 7.5% with no benefits to the shareholders).
For CellSaf, however, since then, it has been a litany of battles with Cell C management and original shareholders of the mobile phone operator, Saudi Oger.
With South Africa trying to unravel state capture that has destroyed state-owned entities as private companies facilitate corruption, I remembered a quote by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng saying the judiciary will never be captured.
