A worker walks past an outlet of MTN Group in Johannesburg, South Africa. Wireless carriers have been struggling with a lack of radio broadband for more than a decade in South Africa. The last time the government granted additional spectrum to Vodacom and MTN was in 2005 for the rollout of 3G. — Reuters
South Africa is rushing to boost radio spectrum for its main telecommunications companies to avoid a network breakdown as Africa’s most industrialised nation prepares for a three-week lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa is in talks with companies including Vodacom Group Ltd and MTN Group Ltd to find ways to provide the wireless carriers with additional capacity, the regulator’s spokesman, Paseka Maleka, said by phone. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies has almost finished finalizing directives to ensure it happens.
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