The communications regulator Icasa has reserved spectrum for an open wholesale access network, but this spectrum has not been allocated for over four years. Furthermore, the regulator stated that it will completely exclude discussion of the Woan program from its long-term spectrum plan.
Regulator's Position and Plans
Icasa's position is outlined in the International Mobile Telecommunications Roadmap to 2026, which was published on July 24. This document describes the regulator's intentions for allocating mobile spectrum over the next five to ten years. Responding to proposals from Cell C, MTN, Vodacom, Telkom, and the SA Communications Forum, Icasa reported that due to uncertainty surrounding Woan—including the absence of mention of this program in the Minister of Communications Solly Malatsi's latest policy direction from March 13, 2026—this issue will not be considered within the IMT Roadmap.
Spectrum Issues
The roadmap footnotes refer to a departmental statement describing a draft policy direction aimed at accelerating the deployment of broadband and mobile networks. Cell C requested clarification regarding the status of the remaining Woan reserve, which amounts to 2x10MHz in the 700MHz band and 1x30MHz at 2.6GHz, totaling 50MHz. Cell C also asked whether this spectrum would be available to the State Digital Infrastructure Company, which the government has been trying to create since 2017 by merging Sentech and Broadband Infraco, and insisted on a transparent process.
Icasa's tables do not label any spectrum as Woan spectrum, but they show unallocated blocks corresponding to Cell C's description. The roadmap indicates 60MHz allocated for IMT in the 700MHz band, of which 40MHz is assigned, and 20MHz remains unallocated. At 2.6GHz, 190MHz is indicated as allocated, of which 160MHz is assigned, and 30MHz is unassigned.
History of the Woan Program
Woan was a controversial attempt by the government to stimulate competition in the mobile communications market by creating a wholesale operator through which internet service providers could acquire capacity. In 2020, Icasa allocated spectrum for this program—a package including 30MHz at 2.6GHz and 30MHz at 3.5GHz—and required auction winners to jointly purchase at least 30% of national capacity from Woan for seven years after its launch. Cell C's reference to what 'remains' implies that this package has since been reduced.
Icasa suspended the Woan licensing schedule in November 2021, stating then that the spectrum would remain reserved. In March 2022, the cabinet approved amendments to both the high-frequency spectrum policy and the Woan policy direction for public comment—a decision widely perceived as the end of this scheme. After the spectrum auction in 2022, Cell C publicly requested information on how the reserved spectrum would be distributed. Cell C repeated this request in its roadmap submissions.
Current Discussions and Forecasts
In July 2024, after Malatsi was appointed minister, the DA party stated that the spectrum reserved for Woan should be licensed as soon as possible. It is unclear if the 2022 cabinet decree was finalized. Telkom informed Icasa in 2024 that the high-frequency spectrum policy and the Woan policy direction published in 2019 remain in force. Public records do not clarify whether these amendments were ever finalized.
MTN opposed the continuation of high-frequency spectrum allocation for Woan, citing international failures of similar models, and called on Icasa to release unused spectrum for commercial use. Vodacom stated that reservation reduces competition, artificially limits participation, and carries the risk of spectrum underutilization. The SA Communications Forum proposed licensing the reserved spectrum on a temporary basis. Additionally, another 20MHz in the 800MHz band also remains unallocated. In 2024, the DA stated that two 10MHz lots that were not sold in the 2022 auction should be licensed.
Unallocated blocks are idling amid Icasa's forecasts of resource shortages. The recently published roadmap shows that the spectrum identified for IMT with planned allocations or licenses amounts to about 1155MHz, of which 794MHz is allocated, against a projected demand of 3000MHz to 14000MHz over the next five to ten years. Regarding SDIC, the situation has not improved: TechCentral reported in May that the merger of Sentech and Broadband Infraco, approved by the cabinet in December 2017, has been postponed to the 2028/2029 fiscal year in the department's latest annual plan.
