South Africa getting state digital infrastructure company — with a new spectrum policy
Communications minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has announced that the South African government plans to give radio frequency spectrum to the State Digital Infrastructure Company.
“We accept the responsibility that we cannot leave our fate and the fate of the country in the hands of the telecommunications operators that are commercially driven,” Ntshavheni stated.
“We hold as a department and government a State Digital Infrastructure Company that has a responsibility to make sure that all South Africans have access to technology.”
Ntshavheni’s announcement adds a different perspective to a cabinet statement from March 2022.
Cabinet approved a spectrum policy amendment on 10 March that removed the requirement to licence a national wholesale open-access network (WOAN).
This created the impression that the government was considering shelving its plans for a WOAN — a welcome development considering the model has not been proven and failed in Mexico.
However, it now appears that the WOAN is merely being substituted for the State Digital Infrastructure Company (SDIC).
Government aims to merge the existing networks of Sentech and Broadband Infraco to create the SDIC.
The operator will have access to the excess capacity of government-funded ICT infrastructure, including the telecommunications networks of Eskom, Sanral, Transnet, Prasa, and Sanren.
Responding to questions during a media briefing on Friday, Ntshavheni revealed that her department expects to release the new spectrum policy by end-July.
Ntshavheni said they are in consultations and that the policy would indicate a provision for spectrum for the SDIC.
“Supporting regulations will come through for that,” Ntshavheni assured.
Radio frequency spectrum is the raw wireless network capacity operators use to communicate between their towers and mobile devices.
The idea behind the WOAN was to give smaller service providers access to cellular network infrastructure built by a neutral wholesaler, rather than Vodacom or MTN.
However, cellular industry experts have warned that it is technically infeasible.
Government also didn’t seem to appreciate that operators like Vodacom, MTN, and Telkom have poured hundreds of billions of rands into their networks since GSM services first launched in South Africa in 1994.
Building a sustainable wholesale operator would require similarly substantial investments to hold its own in the South African market.
The new spectrum policy’s end-July deadline coincides with the ANC’s policy conference that is expected to take place at the same time.
The ruling party published a policy discussion document ahead of the conference.
It includes a universal broadband service and access policy, and a policy for promoting investment in telecommunications infrastructure. It states:
- Unassigned spectrum in the mid-band should be released in 2024, and the government should urgently provide a policy framework for the licensing of millimetre wave spectrum.
- Industry regulator Icasa should closely monitor the distortion or developments in the mobile and fixed market that may stifle competition and discourage investment infrastructure.
- Icasa must introduce a secondary market for spectrum and provide a regulatory framework to ensure that the resultant transactions do not negatively impact competition.
- Icasa must introduce regulations to enable flexible sharing models between licenses, spectrum pooling, lease, and sales of spectrum licences.
- 4G mobile technology to be the minimum technology offering in South Africa.
- There must be an orderly deceleration and decommissioning of 2G and 3G technologies.
- Minister should issue a policy direction on radio frequency spectrum that will promote sustainable investment in 5G and 6G technologies.
- South Africa should have a 5G strategy that sets out the best options in which the private sector and the government may extract maximum benefits from ITU-identified 5G use cases.
- This 5G strategy should set out priorities for the rollout of 5G in sub-national government (smart cities) and specific economic sectors such as health, education, and manufacturing.
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