Interested parties participated in public hearings of The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) for the Under-Serviced Area Licence (USALs) applications for the Vhembe District Municipality earlier this week.

The hearings took place at Tusk Venda Casino Hotel on Tuesday and Wednesday.

USALs are telecommunications licensees that have been earmarked to provide a telecommunication service in areas with a very low penetration of telephone and other telecommunication services. Mr Jubie Matlou, media and stakeholder liaison officer, said the USALs are also earmarked for small and emerging entrepreneurs to enter the burgeoning and lucrative telecommunications market, as well as to stimulate economic growth in rural and historically disadvantaged areas across the country. “Licensees in this category provide a range of telecommunications services, including voice over Internet protocol (VOIP), fixed mobile service, public pay telephones and long distance calls to be transported through the trunk networks of any operators licensed to carry international traffic,” Matlou said.

ICASA received three applications for the USAL license in Limpopo Province, amongst others from Vhembe Telecommunications (Pty) Ltd and Kwetedza Telecoms.