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BMI-T: Mobile telephony roadmap flawed

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 27 Nov 2014
ICASA's broadband roadmap does not clarify the overall process of spectrum allocation and assignment, says BMI-T.
ICASA's broadband roadmap does not clarify the overall process of spectrum allocation and assignment, says BMI-T.

The protracted stop-start process of spectrum allocation - which the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) started as far back as 2006 - has finally seen solid progress, with the publication of the International Mobile Telephony (IMT) roadmap. However, there are several important oversights within the regulator's plan.

This is according to BMI-TechKnowledge (BMI-T) director Tim Parle, who notes, after numerous discussion documents and proposals having been mooted, hearings held, and deadlines set and broken, some progress was evident at the end of August 2014 when ICASA released the draft IMT roadmap for consultation.

ICASA published the final IMT roadmap about two weeks ago - a step towards realising SA Connect's (SA's broadband policy) aim of universal broadband, as well as towards a vibrant and competitive telecoms industry and the promotion of investment in SA.

ICASA's IMT roadmap, explains Parle, details which frequency bands are seen by ICASA to be relevant to the South African market, the characteristics of these bands, and what needs to happen within these bands to reach the desired levels. "The aim is to allow SA to access true 4G services. An element of the plan is to make way for [long-term evolution] LTE - or similar - services for rural wireless broadband."

Roadmap reaction

Parle says the timing of the roadmap publication surprised network operators and other interested parties more so than its content, as it was published with no warning and apparently little consultation with the affected parties.

While the roadmap has, overall, been welcomed and praised for its thoroughness, analysis and presentation of options for discussions, Parle says a critique of the roadmap reveals several notable faults in the plan and its structure.

He lists the flaws as follows:

1. The time for the interested parties to provide responses to this hefty document and complex topic was short.
2. The relevance to other studies by ICASA is not clear.
3. The overall process of spectrum allocation and assignment remains unclear.
4. The roadmap is incomplete in the sense that it does not cover other important spectrum bands such as TV white space, and industrial, scientific and medical radio bands.
5. It cannot take into consideration what the incoming ICASA councillors will think.

ICASA said at the time of publication on 14 November, that the final IMT roadmap followed "extensive public consultation with relevant stakeholders in recent weeks".

Parle says BMI-T feels the publishing of the IMT roadmap marks the start of a "bold and necessary" process. "It is clear that changes in the allocation and assignment of high-demand spectrum bands are set to happen in SA, but we expect that it will be a long - and possibly hard - road to reach these goals."

Parle says local telecoms operators will need to endure some pain in the short- to medium-term in order for them, and others, to reap the long-term benefits.

"All of the players will play their part, and a creative and aggressive plan will need to be put in place. We look forward to understanding how the IMT roadmap will factor into the overall and eventual allocation of this high-demand spectrum."

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