Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Siyabonga Cwele was considering extending the consultation and comment process for its information and communication technology policy review following requests from industry stakeholders, he told delegates at a South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) briefing on Friday.

The National Integrated ICT Policy Options Paper, which aimed to modernise and align South Africa’s ICT policy environment, was tabled last week, signalling the final consultative stage of the document that had been under development for the past two years.

Industry stakeholders have been given until January 15 to submit their views, before the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) tables the White Paper by the end of March.

However, Cwele noted that he would consider an extension to avoid “steamrolling” the policy, as many stakeholders complained that the timeframe to comment on the paper was too short.

The former Department of Communications, which had been split into the Department of Communications and the DTPS earlier this year, initiated a policy review process in 2012, from which a framing paper emerged in April 2013, followed by a Green Paper in January 2014.

“The gazetting of the [discussion document] is the latest milestone in the department’s implementation of the National Development Plan, which envisages that a new policy framework will be needed to realise the vision of a fully connected society,” Cwele commented.

The latest discussion paper incorporated the inputs received in response to the Green Paper, as well as views that were obtained from consultations held across South Africa’s nine provinces.