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What lessons should South Africa draw from recent and ongoing foreign spectrum auctions?
South Africa and many other countries should pay attention to several new issues of spectrum management policy and action plans that are becoming evident in the growing wave of new spectrum allocations for mobile broadband services in Europe and elsewhere.
It is apparent for example that there can be significant differences of opinion, reflecting their traditional mandates and cultures, between telecommunications regulators, Competition Authorities and public policy makers about the nature and desirability of rules and conditions that should be applied in allowing and/or restricting access to new, and even currently allocated, spectrum assets by existing operators and potential entrants.
Japan as an example of Green IT
Japan is an example of how long term forecasts of potentially huge increases in energy consumption and CO2 emissions are stimulating Green IT initiatives both to reduce the energy required “per byte stored, displayed, processed, and transmitted”, and to build a much more energy-efficient society and economy.
South Africa and the 2.6GHz Band Plan – Isolation or Harmonization
Martyn Roetter, July 24, 2009
South Africa has an opportunity through its allocation and attribution of spectrum in the valuable 2.6GHz band (2500-2690MHz) to become a broadband wireless pacesetter for its own economic and social benefit, as well as Africa’s.
Spectrum, Spectrum, Spectrum
A key question on everyone’s minds is how to improve broadband service and penetration, and accelerate our ICT development index in the process. Service providers are exploring a variety of wireless technologies. Mobile operators, with their aggressive investment plans and marketing muscle, have already demonstrated their ability to make a major difference. Convergence now means fixed line players are also investigating and deploying the same technologies – e.g. Telkom’s W-CDMA rollout. As the old adage goes the three most important priorities in this regard are (a) spectrum, (b) spectrum and (c) spectrum.
Too late for WiMax?
Next generation mobile technology could relegate WiMax to a niche position in Africa as a wireless broadband solution in a continent that has a higher penetration of mobile phones with internet access than fixed lines.
WiMax will face stiff competition from mobile networks, although it will still have a greater impact in those developing countries in which it is given a reasonable head start over mobile broadband networks in Africa – by mid-2008 there were already 14 commercial HSPA networks in nine African countries.
