ICASA Sets New Deadline for Controversial Spectrum Auction

Last month, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the country’s communications regulator, announced that it would not be publishing invitations to apply (ITA) to participate in the highly anticipated auction of high-demand spectrum in South Africa, effectively postponing the auction.

ICASA said that the move was made to avoid lengthy court battles against several litigators that had issues with how ICASA was handling the auction. The regulator likewise withdrew an ITA for the licensing of the planned wholesale open-access network (WOAN).

Now, following more than a decade of delays and legal issues, ICASA has announced a new timetable for the auction of its high-demand spectrum in the country.

According to Media24, SA’s high data prices (some of the highest prices on the continent) and slow rollout of new technologies have both been blamed on ICASA continuous delaying of the auction.

Now, ICASA expects that the spectrum will be allocated to local companies by the end of March 2022, a full year after the auction was originally planned to be completed. Its latest delay was due to legal action taken by Telkom, eMedia and MTN. Continue reading

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