Burundi’s Telecommunications Regulation and Control Agency (ARCT) has published its roadmap for the deployment of 5G services in the country, setting out a target of July 2024 for the introduction of commercial services.
The ARCT notes that the availability of frequencies is a major issue for the development of 5G and that the successful deployment of 5G requires the timely availability of sufficient spectrum under appropriate conditions. It plans to assign a continuous band of 60MHz-100MHz in the sub-6GHz bands along with at least 800MHz of millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum above 6GHz.
In December 2023 the regulator plans to release spectrum in the 700MHz, 2.3GHz, 2.5GHz, 3.5GHz and 26GHz bands, with the granting of authorisations to test 5G scheduled to take place in January 2024. Whilst the details are still to be decided, the roadmap notes that ‘Depending on the availability of the spectrum and the needs of the market, the ARCT may set up a mechanism [e.g. auction] for selecting candidates for the use of the spectrum predefined in advance.’ Backed by a public awareness programme outlining the benefits of 5G (which is slated to begin in August 2023), commercial services are expected to launch in July 2024.