Ten telecommunication companies in Kenya have applied for 4G spectrum licences, reports Business Daily. The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) said the applicants are part of two different consortia composed of five companies each. Their applications were submitted in December 2017 and are still under evaluation.
The consortia want a slice of the 700 MHz frequency band that was freed up when Kenya migrated to digital television. CA director-general Francis Wangusi said the board decided towards the end of 2017 to have the tier two companies form consortia, and for the CA to give them spectrum on trial for one year. According to Wangusi, if they are successful, they pay the USD 25 million spectrum fee.
The 700 MHz spectrum band is split into three blocks, one of which was assigned to Jamii Telecom last year, leaving two blocks still available.
Wangusi said that the CA had opted for the consortium model because there was not enough spectrum to go round and "if we were to give to one, then the others might cry foul". Two other tier two companies that had applied individually, had their bids set aside. The regulator decided to close this spectrum band to the larger tier one operators (Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom Kenya), saying that they had all received a share of the 800 MHz band, which some are already using for 4G services. Wangusi declined to name the companies that are seeking the new spectrum.
According to CA data, tier two electronic service providers include Wananchi Group, Liquid Telecom, iWay Africa and Access Kenya Group. There is as yet no indication that they are part of the consortia, said Business Daily. Tier two companies have so far been providing fixed and wireless services. The Unified Licensing Framework allows them to venture into the mobile business, but they had not been allocated the spectrum to do so. The CA says it is trying to encourage infrastructure sharing. The four companies that already have 4G, have been required to share at least 30 percent of their spectrum.
