Dimension Data division Internet Solutions and Convergence Partners, the telecommunications investment vehicle controlled by Didata Africa chairman Andile Ngcaba, are jointly establishing a new business, called SpectraCo, with a view to possibly building a national wholesale wireless broadband network.
SpectraCo will be headed by Convergence Partners executive Craig Wilson, who was previously chief financial officer at Seacom.
Internet Solutions MD Saki Missaikos says SpectraCo is in its early, exploratory phases, but the Internet service provider has already seconded “two or three” of its staff to assist with the project.
TechCentral revealed in March that Convergence Partners, which already has investments in a range of telecoms projects, including the Seacom subsea system and the FibreCo national backhaul network operator, was keen to build a wholesale and open-access mobile network using long-term evolution (LTE) technology.
Convergence Partners CEO Brandon Doyle says SpectraCo’s main purpose for now is “making sense of what type of business we could create, depending on where spectrum allocation goes”.
The Independent Communications of Authority of SA is working with the department of communications to determine how spectrum in the key 800MHz and 2,6GHz radio frequency spectrum bands will be opened up. Incumbent operators such as MTN and Vodacom are keen for access to the spectrum to build their own LTE networks; smaller industry players also want a chance to take advantage of the bands.
Doyle says he doesn’t expect clarity on the situation in the immediate term, and says current and prospective operators may have to wait until after the ANC’s policy conference at the end of this month to have a clearer insight into what’s likely to happen.
However, if the outcome is favourable for Convergence Partners and Internet Solutions, it appears likely that they will submit a bid with a view to building a national network that could cost billions of rand.
Doyle told TechCentral in March that Convergence Partners wanted to provide wholesale network access to existing operators and to new operators that will emerge in the next few years, including in rural parts of the country that are currently poorly served by the incumbent players. There was no intention of providing services directly to retail end users, Doyle said at the time. — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media
