Following several industry complaints and media reports, Screamer Telecoms and Sentech are to be called to face the complaints and compliance committee of the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa). No date has been set yet for the hearing.

The authority has been investigating complaints against Screamer’s allegedly unlawful use of radio frequency spectrum belonging to Sentech. Screamer operates a WiMax wireless broadband network.

Screamer hit the headlines last October when former Sentech chairman Quraysh Patel accused Screamer of using the state-owned company’s spectrum unlawfully to provide services.

It appears Screamer used a portion of Sentech’s 50MHz spectrum allocation in the 2,6GHz band after the two parties reached a commercial agreement, which was later cancelled.

Screamer’s use of the spectrum has long been a hot topic in the telecommunications industry, especially given that a number of large commercial operators are keen to get access to the 2,6GHz band.

For now, Sentech and iBurst parent company Wireless Business Solutions are the only two entities licensed to provide services in the band. However, many operators want to use the spectrum to roll out high-speed wireless broadband.

Patel said last year that Screamer may be using the spectrum despite the state-owned company cancelling the agreement and declining a request to renew the contract.

It’s not known if Screamer is still using the spectrum to provide services, but Patel asked Icasa to investigate the matter if it had reason to believe that this was the case.

Icasa’s legal division has completed that investigation and a draft report has been presented to the council, says Icasa spokesman Jubie Matlou.

However, he says council has requested that additional information be included in the report and from there the matter will go before the complaints and compliance committee. — Candice Jones, TechCentral