OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Tuesday 12.40pm
THE South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority’s delay in allowing the rollout of the 1800 MHz cellphone spectrum for the existing cellphone operators is holding back the expansion of mobile phone service in the country, Vodacom group CEO Alan Knott-Craig said on Tuesday.
Knott-Craig was speaking at a public hearing convened by Satra to hear applications by MTN and Vodacom’s to have their spectrum licences extended. The hearing was called only after Vodacom threatened legal action to speed up the process.
Satra spokeswoman Kotli Molise said on Monday that two cellphone network operators want access to the 1800 MHz frequency because they are running out of spectrum in Sandton, central Durban and central Cape Town. They can no longer carry the increasing number of subscribers on the 900 frequency.
Knott-Craig told the hearing that Vodacom will extend to Satra the necessary undertakings to implement a conditional agreement it has reached with Saudi Arabian backed consortium Cell C — the preferred bidder for the country’s third cellular licence — to share the 900 and 1800 frequencies.
Interested parties Vodafone Airtouch, Khuluma 084, Cell C, Telia Telenor, Africa Speaks, Internet Service Providers’ Association, Alcatel, Maluti Telecommunications, Telkom, Nextcom and Provtel will present arguments supporting or opposing the applications.
The hearing will conclude on Thursday.