By Catherine Sasman
In the topsy-turvy world of international telecommunications and broadcasting, Namibian stakeholders will – for the last time – have their say on the Communications Bill.
WINDHOEK
A convention to look into the Communications Bill will take place from Wednesday to Friday. This will be the last time Namibian stakeholders can give input into the much-contested Bill after eight years of lobbying.
The Bill, which has undergone a consultative process every year since it was proposed, intends to set up a single independent regulator for the telecommunications sector, postal services and broadcasting.
Consultations on the Bill so far have been arduous and protracted. This holdup, said those in the know, is partly due to the information revolution propelled by breathtaking and rapid developments of information and communication technologies that require quick and sharp turnarounds and often-tricky legislative challenges. The ground is constantly shifting under the feet of regulators and operators alike, with terms and tabulations too technical and inaccessible for the ordinary person on the street to care much about.
Freedom of expression activists have also expressed concern that the government could be seen as reluctant to lose its grip on the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors.
Yet others ascribed the delay to repeated lobbying from particularly Telecom Namibia to maintain its monopoly over the telecommunications sector.
This battle for control, they say, came to a head towards the end of last year when mobile operator, MTC, and Telecom Namibia clashed over Telecom’s Switch system.
In response, Prime Minister Nahas Angula called for the establishment of a government technical steering committee to study the Bill, garner stakeholder inputs and prepare the final draft thereof.
This steering committee consists of members of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, the Namibian Communications Commission (NCC), and the Office of the Attorney General.
Notwithstanding the reasons, Namibia has to take bold steps into the future by finalising this Bill and enacting it as a matter of cause if it is to keep up with developments in the rest of the world.
Pundits have also fervently argued that despite the changing sea of variables, it is important for the country to get the basics right.
“As far as I am concerned,” said one expert who, for now, prefers anonymity, “the draft piece of legislation is already outdated and needs a complete overhaul.”
The adoption of Vision 2030 and three consecutive national development plans dictate that the information sector revisits priorities to contribute towards the improvement in the quality of life of all Namibians to the level of the developed world.
Since 1990, Namibia has formulated progressive media and communications legislation.
In 1991 it became the first SADC country to give some degree of autonomy to the national broadcaster with the passing of the Namibian Broadcasting Act.
The government took similar steps concerning the regulation of broadcasting and telecommunications when it passed the Namibian Communications Commission in 1992.
This opened the airwaves to private broadcasting for the first time. And recently, the mobile telecommunications market opened up when the new operator, Cell One, started operating.
Moreover, as signatory to the SADC Protocol on Culture, Information and Sport [the SADC Protocol], the African Commission’s Declaration of Principles on Free Expression in Africa [AC Declaration], and the SADC Declaration on Information and Communication Technology [ICT Declaration], it has the legal obligation to incorporate provisions in these declarations into its laws.
“We are not married to text, but we have to see what is workable for Namibia,” said chairperson of the steering committee, Sacky Shanghala.
The committee has reviewed and considered submissions on the role of the NCC, the regulation of convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting, the promotion of technology and service neutral licensing, and to open the gateway for international players.
Important also, is how dominant players in the telecommunication and broadcast sectors, such as Telecom Namibia and the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), will be dealt with.
Shortcomings of the Bill, said chairperson of the NCC Board, David Imbili, is that the communications commission is not empowered to take full control of the spectrum and frequency management, and that competition policies of the communications sector are not enforced. A big omission, he said, is that the commission is not empowered to regulate Telecom Namibia.
Another bone of contention is the fact that the regulator is “caught” between two ministries – the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Works – said a source.
“This is not acceptable practice anywhere else in the world,” he criticised. “This situation should come to an end.”
Moreover, the NBC falls outside the ambit of the commission. While it is not clear what will transpire at the three-day conference, it will be interesting to note how stakeholders will deal with the national broadcaster.
Legislation governing the NBC, said a March 2005 audit on media and communications legislation in Namibia, concluded by Clement Daniels, David Lush and others, contradicts contemporary African standards in that it does not guarantee the independence of the broadcaster, and allows the broadcaster beyond the control of the regulator.
Submissions made by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Namibia are that state and government-controlled broadcasters be transformed into public service broadcasters, in line with the SADC Protocol and AC Declaration.
They also expressed concern that if Namibia is to have one regulator for communications content and infrastructure, a discrepancy is set to continue should the draft Bill be passed in its current form.
They thus called for more aligned regulation of the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors to be more in line with provisions of the relevant SADC protocols.
In its submission, the media organisation said the Bill should recognise the importance of community broadcasting along with public and commercial broadcasting, and to ensure equitable allocation between frequencies between the three tiers of broadcasting.
But more importantly, said experts, is to make sure that the regulatory authority is indeed independent, and hence unfettered by any undue political and economic interference.
Article 19, an international freedom of expression organization, stated in a memorandum on the Bill last year that it “fails to affirm the [communications] authority’s independence”.
“[The] very word ‘independence’ does not appear anywhere in the Bill in relation to the authority,” said the organisation, adding that it “actively undermines any independence that the authority might have”.
“The process of appointing members of the board of the proposed authority should be taken out of the hands of the responsible minister and entrusted to a publicly accountable body, such as a committee of Parliament,” suggested Article 19.
It further suggested provisions disqualifying the appointment of those working in government, or anyone who holds an official office in, or is an employee of a political party, from serving on the regulatory authority’s board.
“We would like to propose legislation that will put Namibia at the forefront of ICT and really open the competition in the communications sector,” said Imbili. “If we can pull it off, this will mean more innovative services for the consumers. I am excited and hopeful that the law on communications will come out soon. Currently the price for telecommunications is one of the highest in the SADC region. We want to make sure that the consumer in the end benefits. This will, of course, also attract more foreign investors into the country.”