The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has concluded the high demand spectrum auction, securing proceeds for the national fiscus exceeding R14.4-billion.
Cell C, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, MTN, Rain, Telkom and Vodacom all participated in the main auction process, which kicked off on March 10, following the opt-in phase auction on March 8, which included Telkom, Rain and Cell C.
The main auction stage comprised 58 rounds of bidding between the six bidders.
“The next stage in the auction process will be the assignment round, which is purely an administrative process, and will be held on March 22, to determine the actual spectrum ranges to be assigned for all the lots bought in the various bands,” said Icasa chairperson Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng.
During the opt-in bidding phase on March 8, Rain secured two by 10 MHz in the 700 MHz band and 10 MHz in the 2 600 MHz band for R1.15-billion. Rain’s participation in the main auction from March 10 resulted in the addition of another 10 MHz in the 2 600 MHz band, spending a total of R1.43-billion by the end of the auction.
Telkom secured two by 10 MHz in the 800 MHz band for R1.5-billion in the opt-in phase, and on the main stage, bought 22 MHz in the 3 500 MHz band, bringing its total spend to R2.11-billion.
Liquid Telecom secured 4 MHz in the 3 500 MHz band for R111-million, while Cell C bought 10 MHz in the same band for R288.2-million.
MTN, for R5.15-billion, landed 20 MHz in the 800 band, 40 MHz in the 2 600 band and 40 MHz in the 3 500 band, while Vodacom secured 20 MHz, 80 MHz and 10 MHz in the 700, 2 600 and 3 500 bands, respectively, for a pricetag of R5.38-billion.
One spectrum lot, two by 10 MHz in the IMT 800 Band, was unsold and will be licensed by the authority at a later stage.