A battle between mobile operators and the Wi-Fi industry over spectrum in the 6GHz frequency band – from 5.925GHz to 7.125GHz – is brewing ahead of communications regulator Icasa’s next spectrum auction.

Icasa as far back as June 2023 announced it was in the process of soliciting a consultant to assist with the licensing process for the next spectrum auction, which was then earmarked for an unspecified date in 2024. It has now been pushed out until Icasa’s 2027 financial year, which ends in March 2027.

In its 2023 announcement, Icasa identified the 750MHz, 800MHz, 1.5GHz, 2.3GHz, 3.3GHz and 3.5GHz frequency bands for auction.

No mention was made at the time of 6GHz, though a fight is now brewing in Europe between the Wi-Fi industry and mobile operators over the band, with countries taking different approaches to how the band should be carved up.

Some countries – including the US, Canada, South Korea and Saudi Arabia – have allocated the full 6GHz band to Wi-Fi services, with experts attributing the widespread adoption of Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 in the US to this decision.

Others, including the UK, have split the band in two, with the lower portion (6.925-6.425GHz) assigned to unlicensed Wi-Fi and the upper part (6.425-7.125GHz) to mobile services. China, in contrast, has dedicated the entire band to mobile operators for forthcoming 6G services.

In South Africa, the lower portion of the 6GHz band has already been allocated to unlicensed Wi-Fi services, but Icasa has not specified what will happen with the upper portion.

‘Experimental’

Paul Colmer, an executive committee member of the Wireless Access Providers’ Association, said in an October 2022 report that sharing the band between mobile operators and Wi-Fi service providers might be a feasible way forward. Icasa has also experimented with dynamic spectrum-sharing technology in multiple bands, including the one in question. However, not all industry players agree with this approach.

“In the context of the 6GHz band, there are limited cases of co-existence between mass-market mobile services and license-exempt services. Typically, such attempts are experimental,” a Vodacom spokesman said in response to a query from TechCentral.

Read: Icasa wants operators to learn to share spectrum

“The 6GHz band, while not ideal for coverage, offers significant mobile network capacity for high-density areas, such as malls and stadiums. Assignment for IMT use will provide a more consistent mobility experience for consumers as they shift from macro network layers to high-frequency layers.”

While the upper 6GHz question remains unresolved, Vodacom said further delays to the next spectrum auction might ultimately harm consumers, as some of the frequency bands already available for assignment could have “significant performance benefits for consumers, especially in rural areas”.

Icasa said part of the reason for the delay is an ongoing impact study by the regulator involving a competition assessment and spectrum valuation, with the “auction or beauty contest anticipated to take place in the 2026/2027 financial year”, it said. A beauty contest is where the best bidders for spectrum are selected by the regulator; an auction is where the highest bidders typically walk away with the best spectrum on offer.

One of the factors Icasa is likely to consider in its study is the impact spectrum pricing has on the ability of smaller operators to compete against the larger incumbents. Icasa generated R14.4-billion for the fiscus in the 2022 spectrum auction.

Although it is now in the middle of a promising turnaround, once-struggling Cell C failed to pay the R288-million it owed to Icasa for spectrum acquired at the 2022 auction. Cell C had bought 10MHz in the 3.5GHz band but surrendered the spectrum after a payment arrangement with Icasa fell through.

Despite a recent GSMA report showing that spectrum costs in South Africa are among the most cost-effective worldwide, mobile industry group the Association for Comms & Technology (ACT) disagrees.

Speaking on an episode of TechCentral Show to be published in the coming week, ACT CEO Nomvuyiso Batyi said the organisation’s own research shows South Africa is one of the most expensive countries for spectrum acquisition.

Batyi said the industry does not fully understand the framework Icasa applied in pricing spectrum in the past. She was also critical of Icasa’s disregard for the effects high pricing have on mobile operators as investors seeking a return on their purchase, the customers who might face higher charges as operators attempt recover their costs and the additional costs of rolling spectrum out on a network.

ACT member Vodacom noted similar concerns.

‘Onerous’

“The obligations attached to mobile spectrum are onerous in some cases, forming a significant part of the overall spectrum assignment acquisition and holding cost. In addition, when considering the cost of spectrum, it is necessary to consider the full cost of network deployment and maintenance to ensure consistent delivery and quality. In South Africa, mobile network operators face costs that are typically not experienced in many other markets, such as costs from theft and vandalism, and the need to buy generators and diesel due to inconsistent power delivery,” said Vodacom. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media

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