Following the susccessful auction of 5G licenses in Nigeria, conducted by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), on December 13, 2021, South Africa and India have announced plans to achieve their 5G auction network deployments.
While South Africa has announced February 21, 2022 to name qualifiers for its 5G license, India has laid out strategy to ensure it achieves 5G network operation in first quarter of 2023.
The Nigerian auction fetched the country $569 million, to be paid this month by winners, MTN and Mafab Communications Limited.
The South Africa auction plan which will include an auction for 4G has attracted broad support, with communications regulator ICASA revealing it received applications from six operators.
The operators that have shown interest are MTN and Vodacom, Cell C, Telkom South Africa, Rain Network and Liquid Telecom. The regulator will announce which have qualified to participate on 21 February 2022.
Spectrum in the 700MHz, 800MHz, 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz frequencies are up for grabs to boost 4G and 5G deployments in the nation.
The auction was originally scheduled for March 2021 but was put on hold following legal challenges .
ICASA chair Keabetswe Modimoeng urged operators to allow the latest process to be completed. “Ultimately, public interest should prevail, as this process will yield positive spinoffs for the industry and society at large.”
Telkom South Africa appears to have dropped plans for a court challenge to the auction process, but is said to remain keen on a legal review of its arguments, proposing this happen early in March.
Last month the operator’s group executive for regulatory and government relations Siyabonga Mahlangu stated Telkom was “pleased with the cooperation it has received from the parties”.
Indian operators looked set to get the spectrum they need to proceed with commercial 5G service launches after the nation’s Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled plans for an auction later this year and set a target for the launch of services in the next 14 months.
On the other hand India’s in announced provisional timeline for its next spectrum auction alongside an industrial scheme which would deliver design-led manufacturing and build a strong 5G ecosystem.
Indian operators are expected to launch 5G services commercially in the fiscal year ending March 2023.
Indian operators have conducted limited trials of 5G in various cities in preperation, though all three major providers called for allocations in the next auction to be priced in a way which ensures they have enough cash to finance full deployment.
The country previously tried to sell 5G suitable spectrum in the 700MHz band alongside various other frequencies, but failed to attract bids due to high reserve prices as cash-strapped operators focused on 4G.
A number of structural reforms were introduced in 2021 to “catalyse further investment in next generation technologies” and relieve the pressure on financially struggling f operators.
