The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has announced the names of the six qualifying bidders ahead of its planned multi-band spectrum auction in March. The companies in question are Cell C, Liquid Telecom, MTN South Africa, Rain Networks, Telkom South Africa and Vodacom South Africa. Previously, the watchdog issued an Invitation To Apply (ITA) on 10 December 2021, and the applications were submitted ahead of the 31 January 2021 deadline.
Going forward, ICASA will conduct a bidder seminar on 28 February 2022 followed by mock auctions with the individual bidders from 1 to 3 March 2022. The in-person, single-round opt-in auction will commence on 8 March 2022, with the main online auction starting on 10 March 2022.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the long-delayed spectrum auction will include frequencies in the 700MHz, 800MHz, 2600MHz and 3500MHz bands.