Mobile operators in Africa have about a quarter less spectrum than their peers elsewhere, and pay 24% more for each unit of it relative to their revenue, according to a new report from the GSMA, the industry body that represents mobile operators. The report, Spectrum Policy in Africa, published this month by GSMA Intelligence, found…
Solly Malatsi. Image: DCDT Communications minister Solly Malatsi has formally withdrawn the reservation of high-demand spectrum for a wireless open-access network, more than four years after cabinet moved to scrap the scheme, leaving the regulator, Icasa, free to license frequencies that have sat idle since. The amendment to the 2019 policy on high-demand spectrum was…
Speaking during a keynote address at the 2026 Spectrum Management Conference in Tunis on Monday, Gwandu urged African countries to push for the allocation and identification of the 600MHz band for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) Tunis, Tunisia – As the global telecommunications community prepares for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27) in…
SpaceX has asked Icasa to resolve the black ownership rules blocking Starlink’s licensing, raising the issue at hearings ostensibly about satellite spectrum fees. Ryan Goodnight, senior director for market access and development at SpaceX, appeared before the the communications regulator on Wednesday to comment on draft amendments to the Radio Frequency Spectrum Regulations, 2015 and…
Amazon Leo has told communications regulator Icasa that it may not be able to provide affordable satellite broadband in South Africa if the authority does not adopt a proposed “frequency factor” that would lower spectrum fees for higher-frequency bands. The warning came during Icasa’s public hearings on Thursday into draft amendments to the radio frequency…
Spectrum that communications regulator Icasa set aside for a wholesale open-access network remains unassigned more than four years after cabinet moved to scrap the scheme – and the regulator has now said it will not discuss the Woan in its long-term spectrum planning at all. Icasa’s position is set out in the International Mobile Telecommunications…
South Africa has, for the first time, formally earmarked the entire upper 6GHz band for mobile networks, handing operators a potential 700MHz of prime mid-band spectrum and settling – at least directionally – a global tug of war between the cellular industry and Wi-Fi advocates over the most valuable unassigned frequencies in telecommunications. The decision…
Communications regulator Icasa has gazetted the final regulations on the use of “innovation spectrum”, formally settling one of the most contested questions in South African spectrum policy. In terms of the newly published final regulations, the lower 6GHz band (5.925-6.425GHz) will be licence-exempt and available to wireless internet service providers (Wisps), Wi-Fi deployments, private networks…
South Africa’s telecommunications operators wants future spectrum auction proceeds reinvested in digital infrastructure, citing the heavy bill that operators continue to carry from 2022. The Association of Comms & Technology (ACT) – an industry body whose members include South Africa’s biggest network operators – wants money raised in the country’s next spectrum auction reinvested in…
The author, Paul Colmer The digital divide in South Africa just got its most credible solution yet. After years of planning, trials and technical validation, dynamic spectrum sharing has moved from regulatory aspiration to proven reality – and it happened faster than anyone in the industry expected. In late January 2026, stakeholders gathered in KwaZulu-Natal…
