Summary

  • A 25 September 2026 policy amendment removed the prior reservation of high-demand spectrum for a Wireless Open Access Network (WOAN), making 700, 800, 2600 and 3500 MHz available for licensing by ICASA.
  • Availability is not an award. ICASA still decides whether to license the frequencies, to whom and on what terms; the amendment records no licence, deployment, wholesale offer or coverage outcome.

A reservation had become a holding pattern

The 2019 policy sought to create a WOAN: a wholesale network that would sell capacity to retail providers, with reserved frequencies intended to help it enter the market. On 25 September, General Notice 4163 published the final withdrawal of that reservation, effective immediately. The Minister’s explanatory note says that, after more than seven years, no WOAN had been licensed, no network had been built and much of the reserved spectrum remained unassigned. That is the government’s stated case for the change, rather than an independent audit of every possible use of the frequencies. (2026 Gazette notice; 2019 policy)

The amendment names 700, 800, 2600 and 3500 MHz. The 2019 policy gave a WOAN priority treatment in the first three bands; 3500 MHz was included in the broader reservation of unassigned high-demand spectrum, not in that same priority clause. The distinction matters when reconstructing what changed. The Minister’s explanation describes lower bands as useful for wider rural reach, 2600 MHz for capacity in dense areas and 3500 MHz for 5G and fixed wireless access. These are policy rationales, not promised coverage or performance.

The regulator still controls the scarce right

The Gazette is explicit that the amendment does not decide whether a licence will be granted, who might receive it or what conditions would apply. Those decisions sit with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), under its licensing powers. A band becoming available therefore starts or enables a regulatory process; it does not tell an operator that it may transmit.

That distinction is the economic hinge. A reserved input was removed, but the mechanism that converts frequencies into operating rights remains to be designed and applied by the regulator. Future assignment plans and an Invitation to Apply (ITA) will reveal lot structure, eligibility, timetable and obligations. Licence conditions will determine whether coverage, investment and wholesale access are enforceable duties or broad aspirations. Only subsequent awards and operating evidence can show who controls the spectrum and whether it carries traffic.

The policy retains strict ICASA oversight of network and facilities leasing and wholesale capacity supplied to other licensees. It also carries forward its other licensing objectives. The change does not disturb a separate reservation for a State Digital Infrastructure Company under the 2024 spectrum policy. Nor does it establish that a wholesale-only network is impossible; it removes this particular prior reservation after the government judged that the intended route had not produced a licensed network.

An auction is a reference point, not a forecast

The Minister’s note points to the 2022 auction of non-reserved spectrum: six qualified bidders, 58 rounds, more than R14.4 billion raised and all but one lot sold, according to ICASA. That record shows demand for the lots actually offered under those rules. It cannot establish what the WOAN-reserved lots would have attracted, whether another allocation would improve competition, or whether consumers would see lower prices or better rural service. (ICASA auction release)

ICASA’s July 2026 IMT roadmap and implementation plans were still drafts for consultation; the Authority said final assignment plans would underpin future ITAs. The next evidence is therefore procedural and concrete: a final plan, an ITA, licence terms, named awardees, measurable build obligations and deployed sites or capacity. Wholesale prices and access by other licensees will test whether the retained oversight has practical force. Until those links appear, the policy has changed the availability of spectrum, not South Africa’s connectivity. (ICASA draft roadmap)

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