Convergence Bill comment

Aware Campaign Submission Convergence Bill [B9-2005] 8 April 2005 Who is Aware? Aware was launched last December to invoke discussion regarding ICT issues particularly in the SMME sector. Many SMME’s are completely oblivious of legislative, regulatory and policy issues. Our aim is to create awareness and encourage participation. Since the initiative was started we have made three written submissions to ICASA, participated in the oral hearings regarding the VANS regulatory framework and have given an oral presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Communications. The need to become involved was particularly motivated by the apparent lack of participation in regulatory matters by SMME's. Even more concerning was the lack of technical input. The big players were providing input based solely on abstract legal analysis and failed to take into account the real world implications. Legal professionals, who did not necessarily have a technical background, were providing the input. The SMME players on the other hand are technical people who also run their own telecommunications and IT related businesses. They are knowledgeable in all aspects of the sector from protocols to human resources. These players were not participating in the regulatory process because they lacked legal abilities. Aware will attempt to provide input from; (i) the SMME point of view; and (ii) a technical point of view. All input to legislative, policy and ...