South African telco Telkom is arguing that an upcoming withdrawal of cellular spectrum would cause significant disruption as people are still forced to work from home, and the move would harm the provision of services for those users.

Telkom has applied to the South African High Court in Pretoria and asking for a review of the decision.

Regulator ICASA stated on October 13th that it would oppose Telkom’s application to the court.

ICASA made the capacity available on an emergency basis in April 2020 and extended the allocation of the temporary spectrum on several occasions. However, ICASA said on August 31st that it intended to withdraw the spectrum on November 30th 2021 as the spectrum was never meant to be available permanently.

ICASA also says that many people have returned to their offices as the pandemic has eased.

Telkom has stated to the High Court that ICASA failed to consult the public, or Telkom, before taking the decision, and failed to take into account relevant considerations and that the decision [to remove the capacity] was not rational.

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Categories: Articles, Policy, Spectrum

Tags: Covid-19, icasa, south africa