Local Loop Unbundling has been delayed, and delayed, and delayed. Towards the end of last year, Icasa released regulations, followed some three months later by an explanatory note on said regulations.

The explanatory note, among other points, stated that Icasa does not consider Telkom’s access line deficit (ALD: the difference between what it charges for line rental versus what it costs it to maintain the lines) to be as much of a problem as Telkom does, and that, as such, it ‘has no relevance in determining access to the local loop’, thereby removing one of the obstacles to LLU being implemented. Icasa had considered an investigation into the ALD a prerequisite for the finalisation of the LLU regulations, and this has now been struck off the ‘to do’ list.