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Spectrum debate considers colour

Farzana Rasool
By Farzana Rasool, ITWeb IT in Government Editor.
Johannesburg, 05 Oct 2011

SA is seeking partnerships with international regulators to help it decide the best route for the hotly debated spectrum allocation.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of the International Institute of Communications this week, communications minister Roy Padayachie said the solution to closing the digital divide lies in the rollout of broadband.

“This constitutes one of the major focuses of achievement in SA's agenda.”

In light of this, the minister highlighted the importance of licensing the large chunks of spectrum that will be freed up due to broadcast digital migration - the so-called digital dividend. This white space can be used to speed up broadband rollout, especially in rural areas, which have historically been overlooked, while metropolitans reaped the benefits of wireless broadband.

For this reason, there have been several calls for allocation of this spectrum and the 2.6GHz band to be speeded up.

Government has not yet decided on what basis to grant licences within these bands.

Race card

There is tremendous competition for this spectrum and government needs to have a fairly good and equitable policy on how to distribute this resource, said Padayachie.

“We also want to stick to the principle that we must develop competition with this spectrum allocation.”

However, the minister said there are a few challenges to contend with.

He explained that this resource is in high demand by current incumbents and then there are the voices of those who have been excluded from participation so far and now want to access the digital dividend.

“Unfortunately, in the SA landscape this problem is overlaid with the very complex issue of race and colour.”

The question then is how this allocation of spectrum will enable government, from a policy point of view, to broaden the face of the economy, in that it becomes democratised, said Padayachie.

Following example

“Over the past few years, we have continued to witness unprecedented growth in ICTs. ICTs make it easier for us to communicate with each other, and to transact trillions of dollars across borders with a single click.”

But the minister said it is not enough to measure the contribution of lCTs through technological innovations when a significant number of poor people cannot access these tools and, therefore, remain outside the socio-economic space.

“Attaining universal access and universal service is not an event, but a moving target. The consequences of the skewed distribution of lCTs between and within countries will, in the long run, result in negative repercussions on the global economy as a whole.”

He added that a solution to bridge the digital divide lies in the deployment of broadband in rural and other under-serviced areas.

Government recently announced its commitment to achieve 100% broadband penetration by 2020 through the combination of fibre and wireless technologies as the main drivers.

As the enabler of this approach, the Department of Communications (DOC) will need to make the right choices regarding the licensing of the high demand spectrum, including the digital dividend, said the minister.

“A number of developed and developing countries have made significant strides in the aligning of their spectrum licensing policies with the national development imperatives.”

For this reason, Padayachie said it is important to learn from such examples and determine the most innovative ways to use the scarce radio frequency resources.

SA will thus seek partnerships with other regulators to determine the best way forward on the matter.

“We have also taken note of trends towards the licensing of open access network providers in a number of countries across the world. If implemented correctly, open access networks will help us fast-track the rollout of broadband in under-serviced areas.”

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