Minister of Communications, Minister Dina Pule delivered her Budget Vote Speech in Parlaiment
On 22 May 2013 the Minister of Communications, Minister Dina Pule delivered her Budget Vote Speech in Parlaiment. Key issues emanating from the speech are the following:
The broadband Policy is due to be tabled to Cabinet in June 2013. According to the Minister, this Policy is to pave the way for the allocation of the 2.6GHz and 8MHz spectrum;
The Department envisages publishing amendments of 4 pieces of legislation before the end of the year, namely, the ICASA Amendment Bill, the ECA Amendment Bill, the SA Post Office Amendment Bill, and the Postbank Bill;
The Minister is due to gazette the performance period for digital switch-over;
The DOC in conjunction with the DTI and SABS will launch a STB compliance lab in June 2013;
The Minister intends issuing a policy directive in Q2 to ICASA to issue regulations on Market Definition for wholesale access to premium TV content;
Numerous activities are planned by the Department to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Community broadcasting;
The ICT sector has created more than 37000 jobs since 2010.