The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) wants to have finalised regulations on scarce spectrum by the end of the year.
During hearings covering the draft regulations held yesterday, at the regulator's offices, chairman Paris Mashile said ICASA wants to get the ball rolling on the allocation of the 2.5GHz and 3.6GHz spectrum. However, he is keen to avoid litigation by an unhappy operator.
The regulator's need to avoid being dragged to court may mean the incumbent operators will have an opportunity to bid on the spectrum, unless the smaller players can find a rock-solid legal means of excluding them.
MTN, Internet Solutions (IS), Cell C and MWeb were among those that presented recommendations to the council yesterday.
All the smaller players are concerned that the incumbents will be allowed access to the coveted allocation. They have suggested various means to exclude those companies that already have access to what is being called WiMax spectrum (spectrum in the 2.5GHz band).
IS senior regulatory officer Siyabonga Madyibi said a simple criteria of 30% empowerment will keep out the bigger players. “They will not be able to represent 30% if it comes down to the crunch.”
However, industry body the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) is unconvinced and has called on the regulator to exclude any company that already has a workable amount of spectrum in the band.
The regulator has espoused a “use it or lose it” policy with the spectrum, since it is considered a scarce resource. However, ISPA's regulatory advisor, Dominic Cull, is not sure the regulator will enforce its statement.
ICASA has not yet taken the spectrum back for reallocation. Cull explains that it represents the chunk of spectrum between two others, and will need to be shifted after the remaining spectrum is allocated, to make clear blocks of usable spectrum.
While the smaller operators are fighting to be given a chance to compete, MTN's regulatory team said the company should not be excluded from the spectrum allocation process. Andrew Johnson, who represented the company, explained the spectrum can also be used for the mobile technology LTE, and MTN would like the opportunity to compete for it.
“We hope the intention is to accommodate both the incumbents and the new players,” he said.
Many companies would have been hoping to get going before 2010, to take advantage of the expected surge in tourism. However, it is unlikely that many of them will be able to roll out a WiMax or similar technology network, even if these regulations are approved over the next few weeks.
The most likely candidates to get anything off the ground quickly would be IS and MWeb, since both already have test networks. Most of the incumbent operators are already running commercial WiMax services, as all have already been allocated spectrum.
Hearings into the draft regulations continue today, with presentations by Sentech, Telkom and Vodacom likely to steal the limelight.
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