Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Public money, private plans: MPs demand Post Office transparency

      13 June 2025

      Coal to cash: South Africa gets major boost for energy shift

      13 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      10 red flags for Apple investors

      13 June 2025
    • World

      Yahoo tries to make its mail service relevant again

      13 June 2025

      Qualcomm shows off new chip for AI smart glasses

      11 June 2025

      Trump tariffs to dim 2025 smartphone shipments

      4 June 2025

      Shrimp Jesus and the AI ad invasion

      4 June 2025

      Apple slams EU rules as ‘flawed and costly’ in major legal pushback

      2 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025

      South Africa unveils big state digital reform programme

      12 May 2025

      Is this the end of Google Search as we know it?

      12 May 2025
    • TCS

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025

      TCS | Sentiv, and the story behind the buyout of Altron Nexus

      3 June 2025

      TCS | Signal restored: Unpacking the Blue Label and Cell C turnaround

      28 May 2025
    • Opinion

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025

      Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

      29 May 2025

      Solar panic? The truth about SSEG, fines and municipal rules

      14 April 2025

      Data protection must be crypto industry’s top priority

      9 April 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » News » ANC puts spectrum trading firmly back on the table

    ANC puts spectrum trading firmly back on the table

    By Duncan McLeod25 May 2022
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    The ANC has said communications regulator Icasa must introduce a “secondary market” for spectrum trading in South Africa and create a regulatory framework that ensures this doesn’t harm competition.

    This market liberalisation, which would likely be welcomed by most if not all industry players, is contained in the ANC’s discussion documents ahead of its big policy conference in July.

    It’s not the first time that spectrum trading has been mooted by the ruling party. Draft amendments to the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill in 2018 proposed that spectrum licences could be traded, subject to approval from Icasa. However, the changes were never implemented.

    Unassigned spectrum in mid-band frequencies should be released to operators in 2024

    The ANC has now made it clear that it wants to move ahead with what amounts to a significant liberalisation of the market, signalling in the policy discussion document that Icasa must introduce regulations “to enable flexible sharing models between [licensees], spectrum pooling, [and] lease and sales of spectrum licences”.

    The governing party included several other changes to the mobile sector in the policy discussion document aimed at expanding mobile infrastructure and next-generation 5G services. These include that:

    • 4G should be the minimum technology offering in South Africa, with an orderly decommissioning of 2G and 3G networks.
    • The minister of communications, currently Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, should issue a policy direction on spectrum that will “promote sustainable investment in 5G and 6G technologies”.
    • South Africa should have a 5G strategy that sets out the best options in which the private sector and government can extract maximum benefits from use cases identified by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). “This strategy [is] to set out priorities for the roll-out of 5G in … smart cities and specific economic sectors such as health, education and manufacturing.”
    • Unassigned spectrum in mid-band frequencies – usually defined as between 1GHz and 6GHz – should be released to operators in 2024. A policy framework on the licensing of high-band spectrum (also known as millimetre-wave spectrum) should be developed “urgently”.
    • South Africa should align its licensing of spectrum with the cycles of the ITU on the declaration of spectrum for use for mobile broadband services.
    • Icasa should closely monitor “distortion or developments in the mobile and fixed market[s] that may stifle competition and discourage investment [in] infrastructure”.

    Infrastructure

    Significantly, the ANC document also questions whether government should still be investing in ICT infrastructure assets, or whether this should be left entirely to the private sector.

    “It is recommended that the government should develop an investment framework or approach that will guide its investment in, or disposal of, particular asset classes in the ICT sector.”

    In the interim, however, the department of communications & digital technologies is proceeding with preparations to merge its two main ICT infrastructure businesses (excluding the partially privatised Telkom), namely Sentech and Broadband Infraco. The ANC document said this merger should be completed in the 2023 financial year.  – © 2022 NewsCentral Media



    Icasa Khumbudzo Ntshavheni
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleEverything PC S01E03 – ‘The story of Intel – part 1’
    Next Article Reunert would consider buying EOH: ‘We’d be foolish not to’

    Related Posts

    Up to Icasa whether Starlink gets a licence: Malatsi

    11 June 2025

    Karoo collision: Starlink vs science in South African skies

    9 June 2025

    TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

    8 June 2025
    Company News

    Huawei Watch Fit 4 Series: smarter sensors, sharper design, stronger performance

    13 June 2025

    Change Logic and BankservAfrica set new benchmark with PayShap roll-out

    13 June 2025

    SAPHILA 2025 – transcending with purpose, connection and AI-powered vision

    13 June 2025
    Opinion

    Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

    2 June 2025

    South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

    2 June 2025

    Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

    29 May 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.