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The successful bidding of the spectrum for mobile broadband services will herald a new era in South African telecom market. Issued by Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the licensing of additional IMT spectrum accelerates the development of 5G and paves way for the delivery of quality experience and affordable internet connectivity to a vast majority of the population in the country.
For the telecom operators in the region, it would be an opportunity to capture the untapped market potential and contribute for the country’s economic growth. With that also comes the responsibility to serve their new and existing customers with better experience through further upgrade and scaling of the network infrastructure. Radio access technologies play a key role in enhancing mobile broadband experience and thereby increasing ARPU.
MTN delivers the fastest network performance in South Africa
Being one of the leading operators in South Africa, MTN tops the chart of mobile network performance. In a report by ICT media MyBroadband, its Q1 2022 speed test data revealed MTN’s leading position in download speed and upload speed using Huawei’s radio equipment.
The report was based on over 300,000 speed tests performed by MyBroadband speed test app users and controlled drive tests. With the testing servers hosted at Teraco’s vendor-neutral data centres to ensure the impartiality of the test, the report revealed the average speed that users get from the network equipment vendors. In particular, one of the leading equipment vendors Huawei leads in 4G/5G network speed, which is around 30 percent to 70 percent ahead of its competitors.
Mobile operators secure spectrum bands for network development
Following the issuance of multiple radio frequency spectrum bands, six mobile operators in the region succeeded in procuring bands of 700MHz, 800MHz, 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz, which are crucial for rolling out more coverage and for facilitating network development.
An executive from MTN South Africa said in a statement, “This is a significant milestone, not only for MTN and the telecoms industry at large, but also for South Africa’s digital future. Spectrum is the lifeblood of our industry and is key to reliable and extensive connectivity for our customers across the country.” He also mentions that MTN will use the spectrum to expand 5G connectivity, while also further enhancing rural, peri-urban and urban network coverage.
Meanwhile Vodacom Group said the immediate focus of the company is to expand both 4G and 5G network coverage to more parts of the country and improve quality of service. He anticipates the licensing of new spectrum in South Africa to accelerate post-pandemic economic recovery and fast track digital inclusion.
A milestone in South Africa’s digital future
The licensing is a testimony of South African government’s determination in supporting 5G development. Despite the repercussions brought by the pandemic, mobile cellular subscriptions increased from 94 million in 2020, to 103 million in 2021, according to ICASA State of the ICT Sector Report Mar 2022.
To ensure QoS, ICASA has also instated several obligations for licensees using the broadbands. For example, a Tier-1 operator who wins sub-1GHz spectrum other than the Coverage Lot will be obliged to expand coverage at a minimum 97 percent of the population, while Tier-2 operators that cover less than 80 percent of the population with IMT services must expand such coverage to at least 80 percent of the population in general across South Africa. The Authority has also imposed social obligations, where operators are required to provide connection to public service institutions such as public schools, government clinics and hospitals.
As the first country in Africa to commercialize 5G, South Africa’s 5G development trend, its spectrum allocation policy, and its cooperation with leading manufacturers have also set an example for the region, which could potentially speed up the digitalization and 5G commercialization to create more value.
Rajani Baburajan
