TCS | Dominic Cull on fixing South Africa’s ICT policy bottlenecks
Update: 2025-11-21
Description
Returning to the TechCentral Show is ICT regulatory expert Dominic Cull, founder of Ellipsis and regulatory advisor to the Internet Service Providers’ Association. Cull recently attended communications minister Solly Malatsi’s policy colloquium in Pretoria – the first under a non-ANC communications minister.
Cull says there is a discernibly different tone from Malatsi compared to his predecessors: more openness, more willingness to engage stakeholders and a stronger focus on evidence-based policymaking. However, while the intent is encouraging, South Africa’s ICT policy environment remains inconsistent, slow and fragmented.
In the podcast, Cull discusses:
• Malatsi’s policy colloquium and what came out of it
• The state of ICT policy and regulation in South Africa
• The biggest policy bottlenecks holding back growth in the ICT sector
• Why government doesn’t fully grasp the economic impact of digital infrastructure
• The latest on the next spectrum auction
• The EU’s decision to hand much of the 6GHz band to mobile operators – and why South Africa shouldn’t blindly copy it
• What’s needed to fix the Rica legislation
• Why Starlink isn’t coming to South Africa anytime soon
Cull also shares the top priority areas he’d focus on in 2026 if he was minister of communications.
It’s a great discussion – don’t miss it! TechCentral
Cull says there is a discernibly different tone from Malatsi compared to his predecessors: more openness, more willingness to engage stakeholders and a stronger focus on evidence-based policymaking. However, while the intent is encouraging, South Africa’s ICT policy environment remains inconsistent, slow and fragmented.
In the podcast, Cull discusses:
• Malatsi’s policy colloquium and what came out of it
• The state of ICT policy and regulation in South Africa
• The biggest policy bottlenecks holding back growth in the ICT sector
• Why government doesn’t fully grasp the economic impact of digital infrastructure
• The latest on the next spectrum auction
• The EU’s decision to hand much of the 6GHz band to mobile operators – and why South Africa shouldn’t blindly copy it
• What’s needed to fix the Rica legislation
• Why Starlink isn’t coming to South Africa anytime soon
Cull also shares the top priority areas he’d focus on in 2026 if he was minister of communications.
It’s a great discussion – don’t miss it! TechCentral
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