South Africa earmarks 700MHz of prime spectrum for mobile operators in major 5G, 6G boost

South Africa has handed its mobile network operators a significant boost by earmarking 700MHz of premium spectrum in the upper 6GHz band for future mobile broadband services.

The allocation, contained in South Africa’s National Radio Frequency Plan (NRFP) 2026, marks the first time the country has formally designated the entire upper 6GHz band (6.425GHz to 7.125GHz) for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT), the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) standard for mobile broadband technologies.

The move is expected to strengthen the country’s 5G rollout and lay the foundation for next-generation 6G networks.

The updated spectrum plan was gazetted by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) on July 24 following approval by Communications Minister Solly Malatsi earlier this month.

It replaces the 2021 National Radio Frequency Plan and aligns South Africa’s spectrum framework with outcomes from the ITU’s World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-23).

The decision represents a major victory for South Africa’s mobile operators and the global mobile industry, which have long argued that additional mid-band spectrum is essential to meet growing mobile data demand and support the evolution of 5G and future 6G services.

ICASA said the designation is only the first regulatory step as the regulator intends to conduct a feasibility study before developing a formal spectrum assignment plan and channel plan, processes that could eventually lead to licensing or auctioning the frequencies.

While mobile operators secured the upper portion of the 6GHz band, Wi-Fi providers retained access to the lower 6GHz frequencies.

Although the upper 6GHz spectrum has now been identified for mobile use, it is not immediately available.

The frequencies are already occupied by licensed microwave backhaul links and certain satellite uplink services, which means any future deployment will require careful planning, coexistence measures or migration of incumbent users.

These issues are expected to be addressed during ICASA’s planned feasibility study.

Meanwhile, South Africa declined to reallocate lower-frequency television spectrum for mobile broadband.

The updated plan retains the 470MHz–694MHz band for digital terrestrial television broadcasting and related secondary services, excluding the 600MHz band from the country’s list of mobile broadband frequencies for at least the duration of the current four-year spectrum plan.

The decision gives South African operators access to one of the most valuable remaining spectrum bands for expanding network capacity as data consumption continues to grow.

The upper 6GHz band offers significantly more bandwidth than many existing mobile allocations, enabling operators to deliver faster speeds, lower latency and greater network capacity without relying solely on expensive network densification.

For consumers, the allocation could eventually translate into improved 5G performance and support future 6G deployments, while positioning South Africa among countries actively preparing spectrum resources for the next generation of wireless communications.

The move also provides greater regulatory certainty for network operators planning long-term infrastructure investments, although commercial deployment will depend on the outcome of ICASA’s feasibility study and subsequent licensing process.