1. PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS SITA AMENDMENT BILL Presentation by Transtel and Eskom 31 July 2002

2. 1 Contents 1. Introduction 2. General Comments 3. Conclusion

3. 2 Introduction Transtel and Eskom welcome the opportunity to comment on the proposed SITA Amendment Bill Important issues highlighted in this submission include: The exact nature of SITA’s role Competition related issues SITA’s remit

4. 3 General Comments  SITA’s role should be that of an IT procurer/broker of services for government departments  SITA’s remit should apply to government departments and to organs of state only if the organs of state elect to procure services from it

5. 4 General Comments (cont’d)  If SITA wishes to roll-out its own Wide Area Network independently of fixed line operators, the Telecommunications Act should be amended to grant SITA this power  In the current form of the SITA Amendment Bill, SITA should apply for a PTN licence under the Telecommunications Act – then lease bandwidth from PSTS operator of choice  SITA’s PTN licence would then be similar to that of PTN licensees other than Transnet and Eskom

6. 5 General Comments (cont’d)  Provider of all IT related services and facilities (Wide Area Networks “WANS”)  Authentication products and services on an exclusive basis should only apply to government departments and to organs of state if the organs of state choose to use SITA as their provider of authentication products

7. 6 General Comments (cont’d)  Organs of State such as Transtel and Eskom Enterprises are obligated to procure IT related products and services from Arivia.kom  Other Organs of State, such as Denel also have a similar obligation  It is questionable whether services provided to departments and Organs of State should be construed as a provision of a network for purposes principally or integrally related to the operations of that department or Organ of State

8. 7 Conclusion eer  SITA’s role should be that of a broker of IT related services and facilities on behalf of government departments instead of a provider  Organs of state should be able to choose who their IT service provider will be  It is questionable whether, if SITA obtains a PTN licence, it shall be able to provide services principally and integrally related to the operations of different Organs of State  Telecommunications Act would have to be amended to enable SITA to roll out their own Telecommunications PTN