Communications regulator Icasa is moving to sell, through another auction, new radio frequency spectrum bands suitable for 4G, 5G and future mobile broadband technologies.
This comes after the successful auction by Icasa earlier this year of hundreds of megahertz of spectrum to mobile operators — the first new frequencies for mobile applications that had been sold in South Africa for about 15 years.
The seven bands Icasa has earmarked for licensing have all been identified internationally for the provision of so-called IMT, or mobile telecommunications services.
The seven bands are:
- IMT700: 703-733MHz and 758-788MHz
- IMT750: 733-758MHz
- IMT800: 791-821MHz and 832-862MHz
- IMT900: 880-915MHz and 925-960MHz
- IMT2300: 2.3-2.4GHz
- IMT3300: 3.3-3.4GHz
- IMT3500: 3.4-3.6GHz
“Some of the radio frequency spectrum assignment plans formalise the arrangements for the spectrum already assigned in the 2022 high-demand spectrum auction. Others identify new high-demand spectrum that the authority intends to make available for IMT services in the near future,” Icasa said in a statement.
“Together, these assignment plans will achieve a 215% increase in the high-demand spectrum available for licensing through a competitive process,” it said.
“The planned assignment of these bands to their highest-value users via a competitive auction process will provide an important stimulus to the further development and deployment of mobile services, to reducing the cost to communicate, to increasing universal access and service, and to providing users with a wide range of value-added services.”
But Icasa isn’t stopping there. It has promised soon to engage in further consultations on the licensing of three additional bands:
- IMT450: 450-470MHz
- IMT850: 825-830MHz and 870-875MHz
- IMT1400: 1.427-1.518GHz
“Finalising these radio frequency spectrum assignment plans marks an important milestone in the allocation and assignment of high-demand spectrum for mobile communications services, applications and content,” said Icasa committee chair and councillor Charley Lewis in the statement.
Read: Icasa moves to free up more spectrum for Wi-Fi
“The authority is determined to push ahead with identifying and making available further spectrum as an important contribution to economic growth, job creation and social development,” Lewis said. – © 2022 NewsCentral Media
