City loses appeal about telecom service licence
The City of Windhoek does not have the power to provide telecommunication services to its residents, the Supreme Court has found. The court found, in a judgement delivered on Friday, that the Local Authorities Act does not include the provision of telecommunication services among the powers it gives to local authorities in Namibia, including the […] The post City loses appeal about telecom service licence appeared first on The Namibian .
The City of Windhoek does not have the power to provide telecommunication services to its residents, the Supreme Court has found.
The court found, in a judgement delivered on Friday, that the Local Authorities Act does not include the provision of telecommunication services among the powers it gives to local authorities in Namibia, including the City of Windhoek.
The court’s judgement was given on an appeal that the Windhoek City Council filed after the High Court in April 2023 reviewed and set aside a decision of the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (Cran) to award a comprehensive telecommunications licence to the City of Windhoek.
The Windhoek City Council decided at the end of October 2017 to apply to Cran for a class network facilities licence in terms of the Communications Act.
The City of Windhoek’s aim was to obtain Cran’s approval to commercialise the city’s fibre-optic network in a joint venture partnership with Telecom Namibia by offering telecommunication services to people in Windhoek, acting judge of appeal Rita Makarau recounted in the Supreme Court’s judgement.
