Government21.05.2013

Broadband spectrum licensing one step closer to reality

Communications Minister Dina Pule presented her budget vote speech to parliament on 21 May 2013, stating that ICASA will soon be able to begin the process of licensing the highly sought-after 2.6GHz and 800MHz frequency spectrum.

Minister Pule said that public consultation on the New Broadband Policy was closed in May 2103, and the Department of Communications (DoC) was preparing to take the policy to Cabinet in June 2013.

“The finalisation of this policy will pave the way for ICASA to licence the much sought after 2.6 Gigahertz and 800 Megahertz spectrum, including the extended digital dividend,” said Pule.

“By doing this, we will be increasing network capacity, improving coverage, promoting competition and facilitating black economic empowerment.”

Efficient spectrum use

The minister issued a reminder that the DoC’s 2010 “Radio Frequency Spectrum policy encourages the efficient use of spectrum resources by employing technologies that use spectrum more efficiently.”

This is an interesting point as ICASA councillor Marcia Socikwa, speaking recently during an SAFM interview, said that the cry for additional spectrum by the mobile operators surprises her, “because they have sufficient spectrum from where we are sitting. All they need to do is invest in optimising the network and improve quality of service. Then we will have a further conversation about whether they need more spectrum.”

These comments shocked industry players and analysts who have been crying out for more spectrum to roll out high-speed broadband services such as LTE. World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck even called Socikwa’s argument absurd.

Legislative amendment and compliance enforcement

In 2013 the DoC will also introduce The ICASA Amendment Bill which deals with the definition of broadband and empowers ICASA to enforce compliance and monitor radio frequency spectrum resources and postal regulation, said Pule.

ICASA recently seized equipment and shut down networks of separate operators in a show of regulatory force over unpaid license fees. This enforcement affected the Easttel network and iBurst/WBS network, leaving users without Internet services and affecting business operations for clients of these networks.

An attempt to close down the operations of Amatole Telecommunications Services resulted in the East London High Court setting aside ICASA’s equipment seizure warrant, pending a court battle scheduled for 29 May 2013.