Johannesburg, Monday 17 April 2000
The South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (SATRA), has been inundated with media requests to clarify misinterpretations of a tender document issued by the Authority last week, in which the Authority invites corporate finance consultants to tender for a review of the BDO Spencer report.
Questions have been raised about whether paragraph 13 contained in the tender document, which states that the Authority decided to disregard most of the conclusions reached in the BDO Spencer report, does not confirm earlier media allegations that the BDO Spencer report was ignored by SATRA when evaluating the third cellular licence applications.
SATRA wishes to state categorically that this is not the case. The SATRA Council did not ignore the BDO Spencer report in making its decision on the intended recommendation for the preferred applicant in February this year. Neither does last week's tender document say the Authority ignored the report.
As has been stated by the Authority before Council did consider fully, the analysis conducted by the consultants and the analysis formed part of the overall assessment of the applications. Council did not however, accept all the conclusions reached by the BDO Spencer report, partly because BDO Spencer analysis was based on part and not all of the information submitted by applicants for the third cellular licence.
The information that was not assessed by the BDO Spencer report, includes information that came to light during the public hearings of September and October last year, both during the open and closed sessions between the Council and the applicants; and information that applicants undertook to submit to SATRA after the hearings.
There has also been confusion in the media about whether information received after 14 June 1999 constitutes new information. SATRA decided early on during the application process that no new information submitted by applicants after June 14 last year, would be considered in the evaluation of applications. In November 1999 Council defined as new information, any information that amounted to a material amendment of the original applications as submitted on 14 June. This decision was communicated to the applicants in writing on 26 November 1999.
Council met in February this year to determine which information to accept and reject in terms of the set criteria. By then the analysis by BDO Spencer was already concluded. Given the focus and attention that the BDO pencer report has received however, both in the media and in the representations submitted by applicants after February, Council has found it necessary to get a second opinion on the report and to give applicants the opportunity to comment on it.
Issued by SATRA's Communications Department, Pin Mill Farm, 164 Katherine Street, Sandton
For further details contact Kotli Molise, Public Affairs Manager,
tel. ( 011) 321 8284 or 082 824 7078, e.mail kotli@satra.co.za