South Africa: Telkom seeks spectrum auction delay
November 22, 2023
By Chris Forrester
South African telco Telkom has asked communications regulator Icasa to delay its upcoming spectrum auction because it fears it doesn’t have the funds to participate.
Icasa sold off a batch of frequencies in 2022 for 4G and 5G services which resulted in Telkom’s rivals (MTN and Vodacom) obtaining significant allocations. Icasa had planned to hold the next spectrum auction no later than March 31st next year.
Telkom, in a statement, said: “Telkom has requested that Icasa postpone the second auction to the next financial year (2025), on the basis that studies still need to be completed by Icasa in preparation for the next auction.”
It added that “the “current challenging economic environment, including the impact of [power cuts] will make it particularly difficult for Telkom and other market participants to [participate] in the auction”.
Telkom has already switched off its 2G services and plans to do the same with 3G. Telkom says that 82 per cent of devices in use are 4G capable.