MTN, a pan-African telecommunications provider, has expressed concern about the regulator’s decision to cease emergency spectrum allocations to mobile operators and other licensees in April 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic prompted an increase in internet demand. The Independent Communications Authority of South African (ICASA) announced that it would revoke the temporary radio frequency spectrum assigned last year on November 30 2021, earlier this week. However, MTN has stated that the decision may harm data supply.
“Removing the temporary spectrum while the pandemic continues to affect all South Africans and before ICASA completes the spectrum auction will have a substantial impact on data provision to South Africans,” it said in a statement. MTN stated that data traffic has increased by 165 per cent since the start of the pandemic and that operators had become reliant on the additional capacity to satisfy the high levels of demand. It also stated that the expiration of temporary licenses would come at a high cost, as operators, including themselves, had invested heavily in developing infrastructure to accommodate the interim spectrum.
“Without frequencies to leverage, this infrastructure would be condemned to idleness,” it stated. MTN was able to demonstrate 5G services outside of major cities thanks to the temporary spectrum. Since April 2020, the regulator has extended the interim radio frequency spectrum term twice, with the most recent extension expiring on August 31, 2021. The auction of the high-demand spectrum is still on hold as ICASA attempts to reach an agreement with companies that filed a judicial challenge over the application standards. The sale was halted in March after Telkom and e.tv were granted an interdict against the auction of high-demand spectrum scheduled for the same month.
MTN also filed its own challenge to the spectrum allotment in a case that has yet to be heard but stated that it is committed to ongoing discussions with ICASA to reach a negotiated settlement on the matter.
