affordable internet coverage
New rules ahead for network operators’ use of TV white space
New rules letting mobile network operators extend broadband services by using idle television frequencies could go a long way towards the government’s plan for affordable internet coverage, experts say. The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) has published regulations paving the way for the use of television white space, or unutilised radio frequencies between TV channels. Mobile operators have long bemoaned the state’s slow allocation of spectrum, which is partially the result of SA’s delayed migration to digital television broadcasting. MTN supported the regulations, which provided "a significant opportunity to achieve ubiquitous broadband connectivity and the national broadband targets", said Jacqui O’Sullivan, MTN SA’s corporate affairs executive. "MTN believes that if TV white spaces are regulated in an effective manner — free from interference — it will provide alternative solutions to the current frequency spectrum scarcity environment," O’Sullivan told Busines...
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