Icasa and government finally reach accord about spectrum
The high cost to communicate in SA has largely been blamed on a lack of competition and ‘spectrum crunch’
The government’s drive to release additional spectrum is gathering pace after the department of telecommunications and postal services and the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) — the communications regulators — reached an out of court settlement regarding the future allocation of high-demand spectrum. The high cost to communicate in SA has largely been blamed on a lack of competition and the "spectrum crunch". Spectrum, often referred to as the lifeblood of the wireless industry, refers to the radio signals set aside to carry data over the air, including for mobile phones, TV and global positioning systems (GPSs). This is a limited resource largely controlled by the government. The release of additional spectrum will be key in terms of diversifying and boosting competition in telecommunications sector, and reducing the cost of data. As part of an auction in 2016, Icasa invited applications for 700MHz, 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum licences to boost the roll-out of fas...
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