"South African access to international bandwidth via the SAT 3 cable is considerably more expensive than similar bandwidth costs overseas," Furman continues. "Again, it's Telkom which essentially controls access to SAT 3 – the real reason why international bandwidth is so expensive in South Africa. South Africans in general and ISPs in particular need competitive alternatives to the high cost of international bandwidth. As the very least, ICASA should investigate the possibility of declaring SAT 3 an essential facility, thereby regulating the cost of international bandwidth. ICASA currently regulates certain of Telkom's tariffs because the incumbent is still essentially a monopoly. They don't, however, regulate the cost of international bandwidth over which Telkom also commands a monopoly," he says.