JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Iridium, the first GMPCS (Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite) system is set to become commercial worldwide on 23 September, but will not have a signal over South Africa.
“If we do not receive a license to operate ground facilities and services by September this year, users (in South Africa) will have to wait until June 1999 for the Iridium service to become operational,” said James Rege, regional director for Iridium L.L.C.
A draft policy document on licensing conditions for satellite telephony has been issued by the South African Department of Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting, with a formal policy to be issued after interested parties have had an opportunity to comment. This then will be handed over to the South African Regulatory Authority (Satra) for discussion and debate. The process is not likely to be completed before April 1999.
“We are moving into the rest of Africa,” said John Richardson, Iridium’s chief executive officer for Africa. Tanzania already is ready to receive the Iridium signal, and more than sixteen other African countries have followed suit.
In the next few weeks, most countries contiguous to South Africa will be licensed. Those that do not have a licensing policy in place have permitted Iridium Africa Corp. (IAC) to operate through letters of authentication to use the frequencies-subject ultimately to GMPCS legislation being introduced at a later date.
GSMPC operators have been complaining for more than a year that the licensing process in South Africa has been too slow.
Says Richardson: “We have been holding discussions with (the) government since 1997 and submitted our formal application in February 1997. We have complied with all the requirements laid down by Satra to become eligible for the license. We are negotiating with black empowerment groups to form strategic alliances. We have employed well over 50 local people, have sent most of them for intensive training in Dubai and Washington, D.C., before returning to IAC’s offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
“We should not be considered as a threat by existing operators such as Telkom (S.A.), but rather as a useful incremental service with formidable benefits especially for rural areas. It will be a great loss for South Africa’s future economic development and technology deployment if satellite technology was `left out in the cold’.”
If delayed in South Africa until 1999, Iridium will lose its competitive edge locally, as it will begin service almost simultaneously with other GMPCS entrants. These include Globalstar L.P. and ICO Global Communications, which plan to begin services in 1999.
