There’s finally some movement in the long-awaited auction of radio frequency spectrum in the 2,6GHz and 3,5GHz bands, with the appointment of a specialist auctioneer imminent.

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) has sent a list of bidders to communications minister Roy Padayachie, who must make the final decision about who is appointed.

“The authority is awaiting a response from the minister once he returns from leave,” says Icasa spokesman Paseka Maleka.

The two bands of spectrum that will be put under the hammer can be used to provide the next generation of wireless broadband services and demand for access is likely to be high.

The spectrum was supposed to be auctioned last year. However, at the last minute Icasa pulled the plug on the sale saying the auction process was not in line with government’s policy on spectrum management.

Icasa also wanted to change the way the spectrum was divvied up. It wanted to make the allocation of the spectrum more “technically efficient”, creating a configuration that would suit new technologies like long-term evolution.

The authority has had to go abroad to find auctioneers because there are no businesses locally that specialise in spectrum auctions.

Icasa hopes the appointment of an auctioneer will help it deal with several complications, including the fact that two operators — Sentech and iBurst — already hold a chunk of spectrum in the bands.

State-owned Sentech has 50MHz of spectrum, which it’s not using. iBurst parent Wireless Business Solutions holds another 15MHz of the band and has applied to Icasa for more.

Most industry players want Sentech to hand back the spectrum it’s not using. However, it could prove politically tricky for Icasa to do this.

Nevertheless, operators keen to get access to the valuable spectrum will be pleased to see that Icasa is moving forward with the process. — Candice Jones, TechCentral