Icasa to publish invitation to apply for spectrum by Friday
• Delay ' due to lockdown allocation ‘
After mounting pressure from President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government to issue spectrum to mobile network operators, telecommunications regulator the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) says it will publish regulations for the auction in the Government Gazette.
Spectrum refers to the radio frequencies on which data and information are carried. Mobile operators have long argued that access to spectrum will help reduce the cost of mobile data in SA because it will allow companies to cover a wider geographic area with existing towers while carrying more data traffic.
SA’s last big set of spectrum was allocated in 2004 and 2005, enabling Vodacom and MTN to roll out their 3G networks. Cell C followed in 2011.
Icasa chair Keabetswe Modimoeng on Wednesday said the invitation to apply for the wireless open-access network and the international mobile telecommunications spectrum, also known as high-demand spectrum, would be made by Friday.
He said the licensing of spectrum “remains key” on Icasa’s agenda, adding that the proceeds will have broader economic benefits for the country as they will incentivise broadband infrastructure investment and stimulate economic growth.
“More importantly, the release of spectrum is critical to ensure continued provision of good-quality broadband services and the lowering of the cost to communicate in SA,” Modimoeng said.
The invitation to apply was scheduled for July but was delayed.
In early September, Icasa said the delay was partly due to the emergency spectrum allocation by the government to allow network operators to cope with increased communications demand during the Covid-19-lockdown.
The delay means the new spectrum slated for allocation in December 2020 has been pushed back to March 2021.
Ramaphosa said earlier in September he was unhappy with the delay, which Icasa said was because it had failed to issue the invitation to apply in time due to the lockdown.
He said he wanted the auction brought forward.
“I’ve spoken to the minister of telecommunications and I’ve said we can’t keep the economy in limbo. I’ve said we need to find ways of doing things quicker,” Ramaphosa said in a session with editors and broadcasters organised by the SA National Editors’ Forum.
Spectrum is part of the president ’ s push for structural reforms that have been flagged by a number of parties, including ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service, as holding SA’s economy back.
The delay also means network operators that had been granted temporary spectrum during the lockdown will get to keep it until March next year.
Icasa also detailed the reserve pricing for the different spectrum bands to be auctioned. This refers to the minimum prices the regulator is willing to accept from a bidders.
Network operators are set to fork out millions, even billions in some cases, to get their hands on the precious radio waves, with the highest reserve price being for 1 lot in the 800Mhz band at R1.155bn.