In November 2022, Paratus Zambia, a pan-African broadband connectivity company, announced that it had signed an agreement with Meta to build 900 kilometres of fibre optic cable across 10 Zambian cities by the end of 2023. The demand for connectivity has been accelerating in Africa for several years now, reports Dataxis. Yet, the pandemic between […]

South Africa’s minister of communications Mrs Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has published the government’s draft proposals for trading of cellular frequency spectrum in the country. The new proposals, which have been discussed for years, are contained in a draft ‘next-generation radio frequency spectrum’ policy document, which was published for public comment. Linked to the suggestions are proposed […]

Independent South African broadcaster e.tv is accusing the nation’s regulator ICASA of permitting the State-owned transmission company Sentech to abuse it monopoly. The row emerged during a public meeting organised by ICASA and where e-tv’s and eMedia executives severely criticised the ICASA regulator of ignoring for the past 12 years to correctly manage the situation […]

The Council of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has announced the appointment of Nkhetheleni Norman Gidi as its Acting Chief Executive Officer, effective from September 1st to November 30th 2022, or until a permanent appointment has been made. The appointment of Gidi follows the announcement of the end of term of office […]

ICASA, South Africa’s communications regulator, has started the process to make more spectrum available for the nation’s broadband demands. Specifically, ICASA has published an “information memorandum” in the Government’s official gazette setting out its plans to initiate a “second phase” of spectrum licensing in the so-called “low and mid radio frequency bands”. These radio bands, […]

The CEO of South Africa’s communications regulator ICASA, Willington Ngwepe, is stepping down and says he will not be available at the end of his current term in office. Ngwepe will leave on October 15th. His departure follows on from that of ICASA’s chairman, Keabetswe Modimoeng, who also stepped aside earlier than expected. “Ngwepe has […]

There are a number of complaints coming from public and private broadcasters that Sentech, the provider of TV signals around South Africa, is overcharging and using anti-competitive behaviour. Public broadcaster SABC, itself financially challenged, has argued to the media regulator ICASA that publicly-owned Sentech, as a monopoly, is guilty of excessive pricing. Private broadcaster E-tv’s […]

The Council of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA/the Authority) has resolved that, based on ongoing developments in what is a rapidly changing market, the consultation process in respect of the Inquiry into the Subscription Broadcasting Services Market must be extended into the current financial year. This extension builds upon and will update […]

South Africa’s communications regulator ICASA has published draft updates to its end-user requirements for telco customers and users in the country. One major change is that the draft regulations require cellular and data operators to roll-over data bundles for a minimum of 6 months. The regulator says that companies can offer a longer roll-over period, […]

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has raised 14.4 billion Rand (€875m) in the South Africa spectrum auction. The cash raised, from 6 bidders, goes into the country’s treasury. ICASA said bidders Vodacom, MTN, Rain, Telkom, Cell C and Liquid Telecom had all bid for, and obtained, spectrum licenses. The auction took 58 […]