Radio licence applicants angry over delays

New entrants to the commercial radio market will have to wait until after the Soccer World Cup before their licences are awarded.

More than six months have passed since 42 applications for new commercial radio licences in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria were submitted to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).

Three competing applicants for the lucrative licences spoke this week of their frustration with Icasa and the delays in the licensing process.

Icasa, led by chief executive Karabo Motlana and council chairman Paris Mashile, has been experiencing internal and external problems recently and faces a major restructuring following years of poor productivity.

Icasa spokesman Paseka Maleka said Icasa would reissue the invitation to apply with new evaluation criteria within the next two weeks.

Maleka would not commit to a date for public hearings, but said this was under way.

An applicant, who declined to be named because the assessment process was still under way, said Icasa had hired an external consultant to help with processing the applications.

The applicant, a lawyer, complained: ''We're losing millions because of these delays and they haven't even published the names of the other applicants, let alone called for public hearings.

"We paid them a R50000 deposit and spent over R1-million just preparing for the application. Now it looks like we'll miss out on the whole World Cup.

"By the time we launch (if awarded a licence), equipment costs will have rocketed."

Maleka said the consultant, whom he wouldn't name, was appointed through proper procurement processes and would be required to declare any conflict of interest.

In March last year, Icasa issued an invitation to apply for commercial radio stations, but in July made amendments to radio spectrum allocations and changed the date to September 30.

According to the applicant, who has been involved in previous applications for radio licences, the closing date was delayed three times and extended to November from its September date.

Frustrated applicants said it should have only taken two to three months for public hearings to be scheduled. It has been six months since the window for applications was closed.

Early last year, only three days before the closing date of applications for mobile television licences, Icasa withdrew the invitation to apply despite the costs incurred by applicants. That process was never re-initiated.

A well-known radio executive said most applicants had been watching Icasa's performance and its decisions, and that he had grown increasingly cautious.

''There is a lot of suspicion in the industry," the executive said.

''That's why most bidders are investing more in legal services than anything else."