Trading unused spectrum: Should it be allowed?

jes said:
Should ICASA allow the trading of unused spectrum?
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No.

Why must it be possible for a company to make money merely because they had the right connections to get access to some valuable resource (tender, spectrum, whatever), only to 'resell' it to someone else who will actually do the work.

While it seems to have become the thing to do with government tenders, we should fight this in the telecoms space as it will just lead to artificially increased pricing.

Use it or lose it!!
 
Cull says that he thinks spectrum trading should be allowed, but added that he would like to see some ‘light touch regulation’ in place, initially at least, to try and prevent profiteering and to require that the primary holder use at least 50% of the spectrum they have been assigned in a particular band (i.e. to avoid a situation where a licensee acts as a spectrum broker).
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@dominic, if after a period of twelve months, a licensee is not using up to 50% of the spectrum allocated to it, does that not beg the question of why an excess of spectrum was awarded to that licensee in the first place?
 
j4ck455 said:
@dominic, if after a period of twelve months, a licensee is not using up to 50% of the spectrum allocated to it, does that not beg the question of why an excess of spectrum was awarded to that licensee in the first place?
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good question :) and this is clearly a problem we currently sit with..
it would depend on the assignment made - if it is a national assignment for example then it may be unrealistic to expect 50% usage within a year. having said that your point is valid and I am really playing around with percentages - the important thing is that we do not create a market for companies with the right connections to receive awards and then to simply sub-assign these without making an attempt to use the licence
 
dominic said:
good question :) and this is clearly a problem we currently sit with..
it would depend on the assignment made - if it is a national assignment for example then it may be unrealistic to expect 50% usage within a year. having said that your point is valid and I am really playing around with percentages - the important thing is that we do not create a market for companies with the right connections to receive awards and then to simply sub-assign these without making an attempt to use the licence
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Exactly.

The problem with setting up pre-reqs (such as 50% coverage within a certain period) is that the recipients will just abuse the toothless ICASA, i.e. they'll promise the roll-out and then not do anything. Just like we see today with the likes of Sentech and iBurst.

Maybe the answer is to put down a substantial, non-refundable deposit. Say R100M that will be refunded once you exceed your first 200 towers. But for every month you miss the cut-off period, say 12-months, you loose 10%. And at month 24, the spectrum is re-assigned and your deposit is gone.

I maintain the big motivator for a network to get off its behind is if there is substantial financial risk from day 1. So let them pay for the spectrum and watch how quickly the investors will demand a ROI.

But give it away, like ICASA did to its buddies in Sentech and WBS, and see how little is done with it.
 
I think the most important thing is that SOMETHING, in fact ANYTHING, needs to happen.

For the last 5 years all that we've achieved with regards to spectrum allocation is lots of talking, debating, drafting, getting industry comment, holding colloquims & meetings & conferences, putting together task forces, and lots of other crap that achieves nothing and wastes a lot of taxpayer money.

Whatever is decided, let it happen NOW. We've had enough of ICASAs pathetic utter uselessness at anything technology related.
 
There should be an opportunity for large players to specifically obtain spectrum, and farm it out to multiple smaller players in innovative ways, to stimulate the market. If this does not happen, those with deepest pockets simply entrench their domination. It's just that the rules need to be crafted to prevent abuse.

Use it or lose it is a given.
 
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