ICASA Hampers Broadband And Cellphone Development

In a shocking move from ICASA, the communications regulator in South Africa, a hold has been put on its applications to allocate frequencies to various local cell providers. This all sounds very complicated, but I’m going to attempt to spell it all out for you below, in words you’ll be able to understand.

Essentially, cellphones, and mobile bandwidth, all work on the 2,4ghz frequency. This frequency has been around for quite some time, and in order for South Africa’s communications to move out of the dark ages, we need to move forward. This means moving on to new frequencies, such as 800mhz and 2,6ghz, which allow for faster speeds and better signal penetration. With me so far?

With these frequencies, there is a high-demand for a piece of the pie, and each provider wishing to make use of them needs to apply with ICASA to be registered, and then have a specific spectrum of that frequency allocated to them. So, for instance, MTN would be allocated a certain portion, Vodacom another section, and Cell C and the rest another portion, etc. ICASA opened applications a while ago, but these have now been put on the backburner, while parliament figures out the politics and policies. No doubt some money is also changing hands under the table, but don’t quote me on that. That’s mere speculation.

What this means for you and me, is that telecoms in SA has it’s foot stuck in the mud yet again.That which was moving forward, i.e. faster internet speeds and better cell reception (particularly in rural areas) is standing still. Potential new jobs, network infrastructure development and progress have now also ground to a halt.

A little disappointing.

[Source: ITWeb]

http://URL Insider

This is drivel! Where are the facts? And talking of money changing hands under the table who paid you to publish this nonsense?
http://URL steven

Simon,

You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, and it makes you look silly. You remind me of a Hifi corp salesman trying to justify why a 300W PMPO system is the shiz.
Simon Gerber

ICASA is the body that issues licensing for various frequencies on which radio signals are broadcast. For a radio device (such as a cellphone or broadband router) to be allowed to transmit on such a network, it has to be licensed by ICASA. Two spectrums are under debate here, the 800Mhz frequency spectrum, and the 2.6 Ghz frequency spectrum, which are the frequencies at which a 4G network is able to operate, and would likely be the frequencies used for rolling out a 4G network in South Africa.

Draft invitations to have portions of these frequency spectrums allocated to providers by ICASA was issued last year. This would allow cell operators, as well as commercial operators to ‘reserve’ a specific range of the frequency for them to use. This prevents signals clashing and interfering with one another, and ensures that it isn’t a free for all and that regulation is in place.

These invatations have now been withdrawn, due to policy considerations by the Minister of Communications, which is essentially a political decision above all else. Rumours, and I must stress these are nothing more than rumours, are saying that private talks are being held with bigger corporate players for allocation. But, as I stated in my article, there is no proof of this and it is mere speculation.

Why this means that jobs and progress is suffering is the following: A network upgrade requires people to work, installing new infrastructure, as well as the erection of new towers. This is a direct reason for job creation. Indirect job creation would mean new cellular technologies in areas that previously had none, small businesses now being able to sell airtime, new cell shops in rural areas, etc. Progress is hampered because no provider can start with network upgrades without licensing, for the reasons stated above. LTE (a 4G standard) can operate at up to 100mb/s, a massive increase in speed to what we are used to.

I hope this clears things up, and my apologies for confusing anyone.

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ICASA Hampers Broadband And Cellphone Development

06 Mar 2012 by Simon Gerber in Tech/Sci

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