The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has confirmed the successful conclusion of the main stage of the IMT spectrum auction, with the assignment round to determine the actual spectrum ranges scheduled to be held on 22 March 2022. The auction involved six qualified bidders – Cell C, Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa, MTN, Rain Networks, Telkom and Vodacom. The auction included 58 rounds of bidding, with a total of ZAR14.478 billion (USD964 million) raised. One block of 2×10MHz in the 800MHz band went unsold; the lot will still be licensed in the future, the ICASA said.
Spectrum lots acquired in opt-in and main auction:
• Telkom: 20MHz in 800MHz band and 22MHz in 3500MHz band (ZAR2.114 billion)
• Liquid: 4MHz in 3500MHz band (ZAR111 million)
• Cell C: 10MHz in 3500MHz band (ZAR288.2 million)
• Rain: 20MHz in 700MHz band and 20MHz in 2600MHz band (ZAR1.431 billion)
• MTN: 20MHz in 800MHz band, 40MHz in 2600MHz and 40MHz in 3500MHz (ZAR5.152 billion)
• Vodacom: 20MHz in 700MHz band, 80MHz in 2600MHz band and 10MHz in 3500MHz band (ZAR5.382 billion).