Commission clears Vodacom, Rain deal

Following complaints lodged by Cell C and MTN, the Competition Commission has investigated and cleared wireless broadband operator Rain’s agreement with mobile provider Vodacom.

The two operators lodged their complaints with the commission and communications regulator Icasa last year, alleging that Rain allowed Vodacom to use its radio frequency spectrum allocations for financial gain.

Rain CEO Willem Roos, speaking to TechCentral in a podcast interview on Monday, said it received a letter from the Competition Commission last week in which it expresses the opinion that the agreement “does not in any way constitute Vodacom controlling Rain, which is fundamentally the issue at the heart of the whole story”.

“From our point of view, that issue has been resolved,” Roos said.

Rain works with Vodacom to share infrastructure, while Vodacom assists it in putting up telecommunications towers and equipment. But Roos stressed in the podcast that all equipment deployed is owned by Rain.

“We control that network, and Vodacom also roams on that network, but it is a well thought through agreement and we can gone through all the legalities to ensure we comply with all regulations. We were quite happy that the Competition Commission agreed with us in that respect.”

An Icasa spokesman wasn’t immediately able to comment on the status of the regulatory agency’s investigation, but has promised to follow up.

“As far as we know, Icasa has not reached a decision yet,” Roos said.  — (c) 2018 NewsCentral Media