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

      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

      The real cost of a cashless economy

      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 » License the 2,6GHz band now: Cell C

    License the 2,6GHz band now: Cell C

    By Duncan McLeod2 April 2017
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos

    Although Cell C supports government’s idea of a national wholesale open-access network (Woan), communications regulator Icasa should not wait any longer to allocate spectrum in the 2,6GHz band.

    That’s the view of the mobile operator’s CEO, Jose Dos Santos, who said in a podcast interview with TechCentral on Friday that the regulator should go ahead with licensing spectrum in the band, which is well suited to providing 4G/LTE services in urban areas.

    The national integrated ICT policy white paper, published last year by the department of telecommunications & postal services, has controversially proposed that all future “high-demand” spectrum assignments — presumably including the 2,6GHz band — be reserved for the national wholesale network.

    But Dos Santos said the industry can’t wait, and the band should be made available to the five incumbent operators — Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom and Wireless Business Solutions — on an equal basis.

    Sufficient spectrum should be allocated to the Woan, but only in the digital dividend bands below 1GHz, Dos Santos said in the podcast. These bands are currently used by analogue broadcasters, including the SABC.

    As for 2,6GHz, Dos Santos said Icasa mustn’t auction off the band, but rather provide it free of charge to licensed operators. “Here’s your spectrum, off you go. If you want to put a token price of a couple of million rand [on it], then fantastic, go ahead, but don’t go and set a price point so other people can’t participate. If other organisations, like [Irene Charnley’s] Smile [Communications], want to participate, then divvy it up by six. Let them participate as well.”

    Mobile operators, including Cell C, have sent a proposal, drawn up by Deloitte, to telecoms minister Siyabonga Cwele that government adopt a “hybrid” approach to the Woan, instead of the spectrum monopoly proposed in the white paper. In terms of this proposal, the operators will still get access to new exclusive-use spectrum, while the Woan is given “sufficient” spectrum to allow it to compete effectively. The operators have also committed to buying 30% of the Woan’s capacity to ensure its feasibility. It’s not clear if government will accept the proposal.

    Dos Santos said allocating all future high-demand spectrum to the Woan is a bad idea. “If you put all your eggs into that one basket, absolutely [it is a bad idea]. That is why the document we signed, certainly the one I signed, says that ‘sufficient’ spectrum — the original draft said ‘all of the spectrum’ — and we engaged with the ministry and the department and we said this is not up for discussion… There’s very constructive dialogue taking place between the incumbents and the ministry to adjust the white paper. If the white paper had to be implemented as it stands today, I’d have a fundamental problem with that. But in my engagement with the ministry, they are open … to find a solution…”  — © 2017 NewsCentral Media

    • Listen to the full interview with Jose Dos Santos


    Cell C Irene Charnley Jose dos Santos MTN Telkom Vodacom WBS Wireless Business Solutions
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleElon Musk to test Falcon Heavy
    Next Article Tesla beats estimates as Model 3 nears

    Related Posts

    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

    MTN empowerment investors see ‘modest’ return as Zakhele Futhi winds up

    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.