Legal battle over sale of spectrum

THE Department of Telecommunications has filed a suit to block the sale of more than $1-billion (R13.4-billion) of wireless spectrum by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa)‚ potentially depriving cellphone users of much-needed capacity to increase high-speed broadband service.

The application filed by the Telecommunications and Postal Services Department on Monday‚ names Icasa‚ and mobile carriers MTN‚ Vodacom‚ Telkom SA and Cell C as respondents.

They have until August 26 to show why the order should not be granted by the Pretoria High Court.

The halt to the sale process had become necessary to prevent irreparable harm which unsuspecting interested parties might suffer in the licensing process and which the court could ultimately find unlawful, the ministry said.

The department said the proposed auction would prevent new players entering the country and assisting in rolling out highspeed broadband across South Africa.

While the regulator plans to start selling spectrum from early next year‚ the department says the government should wait for the latest policy document‚ expected to be approved by the end of the year.

The intervention could further postpone Icasa’s attempts to sell the spectrum after an earlier delay of about five years‚ partly caused by the government deliberations over broadband policy.

The move to attract bids from internet providers is designed to help the government deliver on a pledge to extend broadband access to every household by the end of this decade. – Bloomberg