South African Government Intends to Liberalize Spectrum Allocation and Allow Spectrum Sharing

According to reports, the South African government is preparing to liberalize the spectrum allocation in South Africa and allow free trade under the premise of compliance.

The latest draft of the Electronic Communications Amendment Act, which was submitted to Parliament this week, shows that spectrum licenses can be traded after the telecommunications regulator ICASA approves. The revised bill does not impose restrictions and appears to include spectrum suitable for deploying mobile networks, including mobile broadband. Under the latest version of the Act, ICASA must establish spectrum trading regulations within 12 months of the enactment of legislation, including standards and conditions for trading spectrum assets. The new bill also allows operators to share spectrum when needed.

As TeleGeograge previously reported, earlier this month, the Cabinet approved a revised version of the Electronic Communications Amendment Act, paving the way for the allocation of spectrum suitable for LTE, as well as for wholesale open access network (WOAN) operators. Licensing framework. The bill will be announced after consultation with the regulatory body ICASA.