The Department of Communications (DOC) is set to soon make a decision on allocating space in 2.6GHz, which is seen as ideal for long-term evolution (LTE).
Cellular companies have been re-farming their existing 1 800MHz allocations to roll out LTE in SA, instead of being able to use the coveted 2.6GHz range, and 800MHz for more rural areas.
Communications minister Dina Pule says the department is busy finalising the policy directive, which will then allow the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) to move ahead with allocations. However, the DOC has dropped the idea of allocating space in 800MHz now.
The 800MHz range is currently used by broadcasters, but more space is expected to be freed up once SA moves to digital television. This so-called digital dividend is hotly-contested, because both broadcasters and operators want chunks of it to offer services.
Pule says SA has time until 2015 to sort out allocations in the 800MHz range. Technical advisor Roy Kruger says there will be an announcement about allocations in 2.6GHz "soon".
Kruger explains that the only hold-up at the moment is discussions involving Wireless Business Solutions and Sentech about where they will move to within the band. Each company currently occupies space in 2.6GHz.
Repeated delays
Last December, it seemed allocations would finally go ahead, but ICASA indefinitely postponed the allocation of high-demand spectrum in the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands, earlier this year. It said this was to make sure Pule's policy direction on high-demand spectrum is "taken into consideration".
ICASA said it would put allocation of 3.5GHz on hold, and instead proposed packages that pair space in the 800MHz and 2.6GHz ranges. Allocating more spectrum, in the 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz ranges, has been on the cards since 2006, but invitations to apply for frequency in the bands were withdrawn in June 2010.
In February, Pule issued an announcement in the Government Gazette extending the date for public comment on the policy directions that relate to the two frequency bands to the end of the month.
In May, Pule said the DOC was committed to wrapping up policy directions on high demand spectrum to facilitate licensing of broadband applications in this current financial year, which ends at the end of March.
Must have
Operators have indicated they need spectrum in the high-demand ranges as re-farming current allocations is costly.
Vodacom CEO Shameel Aziz-Joosub has said it is re-farming its 1 800MHz spectrum as it rolls out LTE. The lack of spectrum could slow down rollout, and will require more capital, he says.
Karel Pienaar, MD of MTN SA, said earlier this year that one of the factors limiting further price drops is a lack of more spectrum. He said this is a factor, among others, holding operators back from being more competitive, especially in data costs.
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