SOUTH Africa’s telecoms regulator ICASA said on Thursday it is preparing to issue an invitation to apply (ITA) for high demand spectrum and the Wireless Open Access Network (WOAN), a significant step towards the rollout of 5G across more of the country.
Mobile operators MTN Group, Vodacom Group and Rain have started rolling out 5G networks in major South African cities using temporary spectrum assigned by the telecom regulator.
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has committed to holding an auction to issue permanent high-demand spectrum licences by December.
The ITA is for licences in the 700MHz, 800MHz, 2.3GHz, 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz bands, which is most commonly associated with 5G.
Allocation of radio frequency spectrum is seen as key to expanding broadband services, especially 5G, in Africa’s most industrialised economy, where the high cost of telecommunications is a barrier to doing business.
Data costs have come down recently
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