Paris Mashile, who chaired the communications regulator Icasa from 2005 to 2010, has died. Icasa announced his death in a statement on Monday.
The regulator did not say when or how he died, TechCentral reported. Mashile served Icasa in different roles for much of the 16 years after his first term.
“Through his leadership, Mr Paris Mashile advanced competition across the telecommunications, broadcasting and postal services sectors, championed greater consumer choice, promoted universal access and helped prepare South Africa for a digital future,” said Icasa chairman Mothibi Ramusi.
Ramusi said Mashile also led work towards the convergence of licences. “On behalf of the council, management and staff of Icasa, we honour his legacy of service and extend heartfelt condolences to the Mashile family, his friends and colleagues,” he said.
Mashile was chairman from 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2010. Former president Thabo Mbeki appointed him to take over from the founding chairman, Mandla Langa.
He returned as a councillor in April 2016. He was acting chairman from September to November 2017, and his term ended in June 2020.
In January 2021 he joined Icasa’s complaints and compliance committee. He was reappointed for a term that started in January 2024 and was set to end on 31 December 2026.
His first term is best known for the fight over mobile termination rates. These are the fees operators charge each other to carry calls onto their networks.
The fees were widely blamed for keeping call prices high. Operators cut the peak rate from R1.25 a minute to 89c in March 2010. Icasa then proposed bringing it down to 40c by July 2012.
When operators asked for more time, Mashile spoke strongly. “They can run but they can’t hide. It will happen,” he said in May 2010.
In February 2010 he told Parliament that prepaid rates paid by the poorest South Africans were “astronomical”. He also said operators had received 3G spectrum without an auction.
His term also had low points. Before Vodacom listed on the JSE in 2009, Icasa reversed its approval of Telkom selling 15% of Vodacom to Vodafone.
Mashile was out of the country at the time and later apologised. “I concede we have failed you and, at the end of the day, I am accountable,” he said in May 2010.
During his term, Icasa licensed new pay TV operators and began the process of licensing mobile TV.
TechCentral reported that Mashile had been tortured by the apartheid security police. He studied under the Bantu education system but went on to earn several degrees in maths and science.
Icasa said he held master’s degrees in engineering and physics. He was also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
After leaving Icasa in 2010, he became chairman of Vunani Technology Ventures. He also joined the board of Sentech, the state owned signal distributor.
He chaired mobile software company ComUnity and ran a programme on digital multimedia at the Gordon Institute of Business Science.
In his second spell on the council, he worked on the plan to license spectrum for 4G and 5G. In 2018 he said Icasa and government had agreed on a hybrid model for sharing spectrum.
Source: this article is based on reporting by TechCentral. Image: TechCentral. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.