The communications regulator, Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) said on Friday it intends to publish a request for proposals to appoint a consultant to assist with its next licensing process for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) Radio Frequency Spectrum, including conducting an auction in multiple IMT identified bands.
ICASA expects to complete the IMT spectrum auction in 2024. The license can be used by telecommunications operators such as MTN, Telkom, Rain, Cell C, Vodacom and Liquid Intelligent Technologies.
In a statement, chairperson of the ICASA committee Peter Zimri said, “This important process seeks to ensure universal availability of broadband services, a robust and competitive telecommunications industry, as well as promote investment in the country. As a result, it is vital to ensure a fair auction process by appointing a suitable consultant to assist with the licensing process.”
The regulator will include additional spectrums in the 750MHz, 800MHz, 1.5GHz, 2.3GHz, 3.3GHz and 3.5GHz bands.
Last year March, ICASA raised R14,4 billion which is almost twice their R8 billion target.
According to TechCentral, MTN and Vodacom spent R5.2-billion and R5.4-billion respectively securing access to the 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz bands. These bands are crucial for rolling out better coverage based on 4G/LTE and for deploying next-generation 5G networks.
MTN spent R5.2-billion securing:
- 20MHz in the 800MHz band
- 40MHz in the 2.6GHz band
- 40MHz in the 3.5GHz band
Vodacom spent R5.4-billion buying:
- 20MHz at 700MHz
- 80MHz at 2.6GHz
- 10MHz at 3.5GHz
Other companies to secure spectrum were:
- Telkom: 20MHz at 800MHz and 22MHz at 3.5GHz for a total of R2.2-billion
- Rain: 20MHz at 700MHz and 20MHz at 2.6GHz for a total of R1.4-billion
- Cell C: 10MHz at 3.5GHz for R288.2-million
- Liquid Intelligent Technologies: 4MHz at 3.5GHz for R111-million
