The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) started its auction process of high-demand spectrum on Tuesday 8 March — allowing eligible mobile network operators to bid for international mobile telecommunication (IMT) spectrum licences.
This is the first time in more than a decade that mobile network operators in the country have the opportunity to bid for spectrum licences. Six operators — Cell C, Liquid Telecoms, MTN, Rain Networks, Telkom and Vodacom — qualified as bidders.