That's according to ISPA's William Stucke, who believes that access to spectrum now represents the single biggest obstacle to competitive participation in the telecoms marketplace.
He said ICASA urgently needs to put spectrum within the reach of the 300 or so new ECNS licensees, so that they can build more network infrastructure. Without well-managed and interference-free spectrum, these service providers will be forced to lease capacity from existing operators rather than build their own networks.
"Radio spectrum is a national resource, yet it isn't managed as efficiently and as transparently as it could be. Evidence from North America and Europe suggests that, even in urban areas, not much more than 10% of spectrum is in use, so one can reasonably suppose that even less spectrum is currently in use in South Africa. The problem is that there is no public database of spectrum assignment and usage," Stucke said.
Permanent assignment and the concept of ownership does not make sense if it is kept in mind that spectrum is a national resource. There should at the very least be a "use it or lose it" policy to encourage efficient use. A model for secondary usage of spectrum may also improve efficiencies.
Stucke said that ISPA favours a shared spectrum allocation model (also known as "Light Licensing") for certain spectrum ranges. Light Licensing is a novel and progressive frequency allocation model in which ECNS licensees would pay a relatively small fee for a nationwide, non-exclusive licence.
The licensees then pay an additional nominal fee for each base station they deploy. All base stations must be clearly identifiable and in the event that these stations cause interference which cannot be mediated by technical means, licensees are required to resolve the dispute between themselves.
ISPA will be working closely with its members and other industry bodies, like the Wireless Access Providers' Association (WAPA) and the Open Spectrum Alliance (OSA) to lobby ICASA and the Department of Communications to increase their focus on spectrum allocation assignment.
Open Spectrum Alliance partners currently include the ISPA, WAPA, The Shuttleworth Foundation and 24.com. OSA is a grouping of parties with an interest in seeing more bits moving: wider network coverage, more connected citizens and more online transactions.
"It's critical that we focus on this issue if we want to help the new ECNS licensees get off the ground so that they can increase competition, improve access and drive down costs for the benefit of the country's telecom users," Stucke concluded.
He says the sooner the issues around spectrum allocation are addressed, the sooner the organisation's members can roll out networks that will enable them to offer innovative, affordable and high-quality broadband services to their customers.
