MTN responds to Telkom’s auction delay request
November 24, 2023
By Chris Forrester
As previously reported, South African telco Telkom has asked regulator Icasa to delay its planned spectrum auction, citing anxieties over its ability to fund participation in an auction.
The move has prompted Telkom’s rival MTN to complain about the possible delay while another competitor, Vodacom, wants Icasa to come up with a process that considers such [financial] circumstances and allows for realistic and fair assignment prices and obligations.
Indeed, the nation’s various telcos are desperate for additional spectrum, most of which has now come from the much-delayed switching off of analogue TV frequencies.
Some bandwidth was auctioned in 2022 but the next auction is currently set for no later than March 31st 2024.
Jacqui O’Sullivan, MTN’s company’s chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer, told local journalists that mobile broadband is a “critical piece of economic infrastructure linked by many studies to economic growth, job creation, inclusiveness and empowerment, and spectrum is the lifeblood to deliver these benefits”.
“The allocation of spectrum in 2022 has delivered tangible results and offers a blueprint of how to allocate spectrum on a more effective and equitable basis going forward. South Africa must remain at the forefront of technological development to ensure South Africans have fair and equal opportunity to participate in the digital economy, while further contributing to the growth of the economy at large,” O’Sullivan is quoted.
“The company therefore opposes any delay in the next round of spectrum auctioning. To continue delivering the quality service levels that South African customers have come to expect, additional spectrum in the new year will be an imperative, not a ‘nice to have’,” she added.