South Africa Withdraws WOAN Spectrum Direction, Freeing Idle Frequencies
South Africa's Communications Minister Solly Malatsi has formally withdrawn the licensing direction that reserved spectrum for a Wholesale Open Access Network, a decision that unlocks idle frequencies and resets the country's spectrum policy framework. The withdrawal was flagged as a landmark regulatory shift when first reported on 26 September.
SA Spectrum: the conditions now matter more than the decision
The WOAN reservation is gone — but the statement withdrawing it is careful to say what remains: rural coverage obligations, wholesale capacity requirements, a ban on any single operator hoarding the spectrum.
Those retained conditions are where the story actually lives now. ICASA can licence this spectrum quickly and still shape it in ways that either open the market or quietly favour the largest operators.
The delay cost ordinary users years of slow, patchy service. Whether the release fixes that depends entirely on how ICASA writes the licensing terms — not on the withdrawal itself.
1 source
- Wireless open access network licensing direction withdrawn · itweb.co.za · T2