Vodacom clinches Africa’s first 3G licence

South African mobile operator Vodacom has been awarded a temporary licence to offer high speed third-generation (3G) services, but says it could convert this to a permanent concession for ZAR6 million a year as it looks to unlock greater revenues from its domestic mobile market. The award is a first for Africa although rival MTN has confirmed that it has been testing, demonstrating and evaluating 3G and EDGE technologies on a live pilot since May. Both companies were issued with test licences by the regulator ICASA in May.