BY PHILLIP DE WET, ITWEB NEWS EDITOR 

SA's Minister of communications Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has announced her decision to award the third cellular licence to the Cell C consortium.

Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, reading the statement in which she provisionally awarded the third cellular licence to the Cell C consortium. 

In a statement presented in Johannesburg this morning, the minister gave the history of the licence process, which started in 1996, and announced that the licence had “provisionally” been awarded to Cell C.

The Cell C consortium was the bidder originally chosen by the SA Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (SATRA), predecessor to the Independent Communications Authority of SA, the current regulator.

The decision was challenged by rival bidder Nextcom in a Pretoria High Court application for a review of the process which led to the selection. The court issued an interim interdict preventing the minister from awarding the licence.

The minister appealed the interdict at the Constitutional Court, but Nextcom abandoned the case before any determination was made.

“As required by section 35, read with section 36 of the Act, I hereby conditionally grant the third mobile cellular telecommunications licence to Cell C,” Matsepe-Casaburri said.

She also indicated that a current application for a judicial review of the selection process would not prevent the announcement, saying she was “at liberty to make this decision and do so now in terms of my public law duty”.

The minister would not answer any questions on the issue or offer any clarification, and left the press conference immediately after the announcement. Andile Ngcaba, director-general of the Department of Communications, would not comment on when questions would be answered.

Cell C will shortly hold a press conference in Johannesburg, and would not comment on the announcement beforehand, but representatives of the consortium were visibly pleased at the news. No comment has yet been forthcoming from Nextcom.