South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hit out at mobile-phone companies for bringing legal action against plans to issue more broadband spectrum, urging them to resolve the matter for the benefit of the country.<\/p>\n
MTN Group Ltd, which has the second-most subscribers in the country, and Telkom SA SOC Ltd both appealed to courts about how the regulator is arranging the auction, which was announced in October after years of delays.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe legal case that is under way threatens to delay the progress that we have all anticipated,\u201d Ramaphosa told lawmakers in Cape Town on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI appeal to all stakeholders to speedily resolve the litigation as soon as possible to enable the licensing process to be concluded for the benefit of all South Africans.\u201d<\/p>\n
South African market leader Vodacom Group Ltd, which hasn\u2019t objected to the process, and MTN have long called for more spectrum to expand their data services and boost revenue, while the government sees the move as a way to attract investment and help revive a moribund economy.<\/p>\n
Both sides say the plan will bring down prices – a matter that\u2019s led to regulator censure and protests from users.<\/p>\n
When the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa released the terms of the auction, MTN executives didn\u2019t like what they saw. The Johannesburg-based company argues that prioritizing smaller operators means the carrier will be shut out of bidding for new 5G spectrum.<\/p>\n
Telkom\u2019s issue is that two bandwidths the company covets are occupied by broadcasters and there\u2019s no plan to open them up.<\/p>\n