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

      Mobile money lifts Africa savings to decade high

      17 July 2025

      South Africa loosens media ownership rules – but keeps one hand on the remote

      16 July 2025

      Eskom targets 32GW green energy shift by 2040

      16 July 2025

      MTN Group appoints new chief enterprise officer

      16 July 2025

      Kruger Park’s white rhinos get a hi-tech lifeline

      16 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Samsung’s bet on folding phones faces major test

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      OpenAI to launch web browser in direct challenge to Google Chrome

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025
    • In-depth

      The 1940s visionary who imagined the Information Age

      14 July 2025

      MultiChoice is working on a wholesale overhaul of DStv

      10 July 2025

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | Samsung unveils significant new safety feature for Galaxy A-series phones

      16 July 2025

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025
    • Opinion

      A smarter approach to digital transformation in ICT distribution

      15 July 2025

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • 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
      • SevenC
      • 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 » Apartheid legacy requires new thinking: Cwele

    Apartheid legacy requires new thinking: Cwele

    By Duncan McLeod3 October 2016
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Telecoms minister Siyabonga Cwele
    Telecoms minister Siyabonga Cwele

    Overcoming the legacy of apartheid is one of the key considerations behind government’s decision to abandon global best practice in licensing spectrum to operators and to develop a model where spectrum will be pooled and allocated to a new wholesale open-access network operator.

    “We must remember we come from this colonialisation of a special type called apartheid,” said telecommunications & postal services minister Siyabonga Cwele in response to a question from TechCentral at a media conference on Sunday where he unveiled government’s national integrated ICT policy white paper. The white paper will form the basis of new legislation and legislative amendments that could have long-lasting implications for the ICT sector in South Africa.

    Though he said the spectrum model adopted in the white paper is similar to systems implemented in both Rwanda and Mexico, government is “trying to create a South African model”.

    The plan to abandon the exclusive-use licensing of so-called “high-demand” spectrum — including spectrum for mobile broadband — in favour of a wholesale open-access model is likely to go down like a lead balloon at Vodacom and MTN, South Africa’s two largest mobile operators, who are likely to challenge it in court.

    Both operators had voiced their support of communications regulator Icasa’s plan to auction off access to the spectrum to the highest bidders. But that plan was left in tatters last week after the high court in Pretoria granted Cwele an urgent interdict against the regulator, preventing it from proceeding with an invitation to interested operators to apply for access to the 700MHz, 800MHz and 2,6GHz bands.

    Cwele on Sunday sought to play down concerns that government will be an active participant in the new wholesale network, or that it has already identified favoured parties that will take up shareholding.

    “We don’t envision a role for the government in this. We want this to be driven mainly by the private sector,” he said. “Our role is to facilitate and assist that open-access network to avoid duplication of infrastructure and its challenges.”

    Cwele said government believes this is the only effective way of addressing apartheid’s legacy and to address the digital divide.

    “This is the only way to deal with our painful past where the majority of people were excluded. Small, medium and micro enterprises can also participate in this infrastructure roll-out. It must remain open, but the shareholding will be determined by the shareholders themselves. It should be in proportion to the size of their investment,” he said.

    “I’d like to clarify there is no one we have in mind [to be a shareholder]. It would be preferable if [the] shareholding is predominantly South African,” he said, but added that foreign investors won’t be precluded from taking part.

    Cwele said everyone in the sector should participate in the new network. “As government, we can reward those who participate — with rapid deployment [guidelines] to achieve roll-out throughout the country as quickly as possible.”  — © 2016 NewsCentral Media



    Icasa MTN Siyabonga Cwele Vodacom
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleSA to enforce net neutrality rules
    Next Article SABC on the hunt for a qualified CEO

    Related Posts

    Mobile money lifts Africa savings to decade high

    17 July 2025

    MTN Group appoints new chief enterprise officer

    16 July 2025

    South Africa’s telcos battle to monetise 5G as 4G suffices for most

    15 July 2025
    Company News

    Ransomware in South Africa: the human factor behind the growing crisis

    16 July 2025

    Mental wellness at scale: how Mac fuels October Health’s mission

    15 July 2025

    Banking on LEO: Q-KON transforms financial services connectivity

    14 July 2025
    Opinion

    A smarter approach to digital transformation in ICT distribution

    15 July 2025

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 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.