The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa announced that six companies have applied to participate in the upcoming multi-band spectrum auction. They are all existing operators on the market: Cell C, Rain Networks, Vodacom, Telkom, Liquid Telecom and MTN.
Another submission from Women Building a Better Society (WBBS) was received after deadline, so was not accepted.
The long-awaited auction will offer frequencies in the 700MHz, 800MHz, 2600MHz and 3500MHz bands, allowing operators to boost capacity for data services and start expanding their 5G services. The three operators MTN, Vodacom and Telkom were awarded temporary licences in these bands in April to help meet demand during the coronavirus pandemic. They will remain valid until the auction, which is expected to take place by the end of March 2021.
Icasa said it would issue another update in due course and was committed to completing the process on time.
