Communications regulator Icasa has refused to budge on its decision to “expropriate” a portion of Telkom’s spectrum assets, describing the allegations made by the telecommunications operator as “spurious”.
TechCentral broke the news on Monday that Telkom had accused Icasa of expropriating its radio frequency assets in its allocation of emergency temporary spectrum to operators last week to provide relief during the national Covid-19 crisis.
The company said Icasa allocated spectrum in the 2.3GHz band on a temporary basis that it already had exclusive rights to. “The emergency regulation does not give Icasa the right to expropriate currently assigned spectrum,” it said. Watch a video interview with Telkom group executive for regulation Siyabonga Mahlangu on this topic.
Last Friday, Icasa announced that it had allocated temporary spectrum to Telkom, MTN, Vodacom, Rain and Liquid Telecom to help the operators deal with increased network demand during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Telkom said 27MHz of the 40MHz allocated at 2.3GHz under the temporary spectrum rules was already assigned to it and was therefore not available for allocation.
It explained that it has 60MHz in the 2.3GHz band assigned to it for mobile telecommunications. In addition to this, it has been assigned 2 300-2 360MHz and 2 307-2 387MHz paired with 2 401-2 481MHz for providing point to-multipoint communication services.
“These are used by Telkom to provide basic electronic communications services on a national basis,” it said.
Deviation
Now Icasa has hit back, saying in a statement late on Tuesday that, in assigning the temporary spectrum for the national disaster period, it may deviate from the radio frequency assignment plans. “The temporary assignments in the IMT2300 (2.3GHz) band were made within this context,” it said.
“The authority would like to put it on record that the 40MHz of spectrum from 2 360MHz to 2 400MHz is available to be licensed to mobile services.” It said assignment plan for the band, mobile services will co-exist with fixed-wireless services.
“The temporary assignments of spectrum in terms of the Covid-19 regulations are granted on the basis that the temporary users of the mobile service portion should, where possible, coordinate with fixed services,” it added.
“The authority is of the view that the argument raised (by Telkom) is premature and misdirected in the context of the temporary assignment of spectrum for purposes of the Covid-19 regulations,” it said.
“It is important to note that Icasa is the custodian of spectrum resources (including the licensing thereof) on behalf of the people of South Africa. It therefore follows that in instances of dispute, Icasa’s position must be premised on consistent and fair application of the law and regulations.
“We do not agree with Telkom’s view as regards the inherent conditions of its existing 2.3GHz band spectrum assignment. This calls for a cordial engagement, without spurious allegations of ‘expropriation’ as seen in the media,” said Icasa acting chairman Keabetswe Modimoeng. — © 2020 NewsCentral Media
