South Africa has, for the first time, formally earmarked the entire upper 6GHz band for mobile networks, handing operators a potential 700MHz of prime mid-band spectrum and settling – at least directionally – a global tug of war between the cellular industry and Wi-Fi advocates over the most valuable unassigned frequencies in telecommunications.

The decision is contained in the National Radio Frequency Plan (NRFP) 2026, gazetted by communications regulator Icasa on Thursday following approval by communications minister Solly Malatsi on 2 July.

The plan, which replaces the 2021 edition, is South Africa’s master map of how radio frequency spectrum from 8.3kHz to 3THz may be used, and is updated every four years to align with the outcomes of the International Telecommunication Union’s World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC).

Buried in the plan’s allocation table and its national footnotes is the significant change: the upper 6GHz band, from 6.425GHz to 7.125GHz, is now identified for IMT – the ITU’s designation for mobile broadband technologies such as 5G and, in time, 6G. The band appears for the first time in the plan’s official list of IMT frequency bands for South Africa, alongside workhorse bands such as 1.8GHz, 2.1GHz and 3.5GHz, and is flagged for time-division duplex (TDD) mobile use in line with resolution 220 of WRC-23.

Icasa said in the plan that it intends to conduct a feasibility study and develop a radio frequency spectrum assignment plan – the regulatory precursor to licensing and, potentially, auctioning the band – along with a channel plan for the full 6.425GHz to 7.125GHz range.

Wi-Fi’s consolation prize

The identification represents a clear victory for South Africa’s mobile operators, which – along with the GSMA industry body globally – have lobbied hard for the upper 6GHz to be reserved for licensed mobile use, arguing the band is essential for 5G capacity growth and future 6G networks. It is a corresponding defeat for the Wi-Fi industry and wireless internet service providers, which wanted the band opened for licence-exempt use as an extension of the spectrum already available to Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi’s consolation is the lower 6GHz band. The plan confirms that 5.925GHz to 6.425GHz remains available for licence-exempt Wi-Fi following Icasa’s 2023 decision to open it – the move that enabled Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 in South Africa – and notes that regulations for dynamic spectrum access in the band are in progress, with an assignment plan for the lower band also planned. As TechCentral recently reported, actual use of 6GHz Wi-Fi in South Africa remains minimal, with just 0.2% of Wi-Fi connections running over the band in the first quarter of 2026.

Read: South Africa’s dynamic spectrum breakthrough

With the split, South Africa has planted its flag in an unresolved global debate. The US has given the entire 6GHz band to Wi-Fi; China has reserved it all for cellular; and Europe’s Radio Spectrum Policy Group last year recommended handing most of the upper band to mobile operators while parking a smaller portion for Wi-Fi pending WRC-27. South Africa’s approach – lower band to Wi-Fi, upper band to mobile – now most closely resembles the European compromise.

The upper 6GHz is not vacant, however. The band is used extensively for licensed point-to-point microwave links, including operator backhaul, and parts of it for satellite uplinks – incumbents any future mobile assignment will have to accommodate or migrate, questions the promised feasibility study will need to answer.

Broadcasters keep sub-700MHz

If mobile operators won the upper 6GHz fight, they made no ground at the other end of the dial. The plan keeps the 470-694MHz band – including the 600MHz frequencies that some countries are eyeing for mobile – allocated to digital terrestrial television broadcasting, alongside secondary uses including television white spaces and wireless microphones. The band does not appear in the plan’s IMT list, meaning South Africa’s broadcasters retain their sub-700MHz spectrum home for at least the four-year life of this plan. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media