Spectrum auction postponed, BEE requirements relaxed

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has published an amendment to its invitation to apply for high-demand frequency spectrum.

This follows an amendment published over a week ago which postponed the closing date for applications by 30 days.

In its latest amendment, which was published on 23 September, ICASA has changed the timeframes of the process again, and relaxed its BEE requirements.

Where companies previously had to have 30% equity ownership held by people from historically disadvantaged groups, they may now also apply if they are a level 4 or greater BBBEE contributor.

It also clarified that operators would not be held to the roll-out obligations set out in the invitation to apply (ITA) if they don’t have access to 100% of the spectrum they paid for.

Under the terms of the ITA, operators who get spectrum must cover 100% of South Africa’s population with 30Mbps download and 15Mbps upload speeds by 2020.

However, some of the spectrum that is set to be part of the auction is still being used for analogue television broadcast services.

If South Africa does not complete its migration from analogue to digital TV broadcasting by the time the spectrum licenses from this ITA are issued, ICASA said it will defer the 2020 roll-out requirement.

ICASA also clarified that the R3 million application fee for the spectrum auction is refundable in the event that a court sets aside the ITA.

The new timelines set out in the amendment are summarised in the table below.

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