
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) says that the temporary free spectrum that was released in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic will be closed at the end of November, BusinessTech reported. ICASA said in its presentation to Parliament that it plans to put the temporary spectrum up for auction in December 2020.
ICASA's acting chairperson Keabetswe Modimoeng told the committee that the authority believes that it will get "attractive offers" from bidding companies that have "experienced open spectrum" and want to regain access. He added that ICASA will complete the distribution of spectrum to the wholesale open-access network (WOAN) in 2021.
In April, ICASA released emergency spectrum to allow the country's mobile operators to meet the spike in broadband services demand due to South Africa's coronavirus lockdown.