ICASA opens mobile TV market

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has invited companies to apply for mobile TV licenses, 14 months after it withdrew a similar invitation.

The South African government had promised mobile TV services during the FIFA World Cup but it seems the services may not be ready by June this year, when the tournament kicks off. The deadline for application is May 7 and the tournament starts on June 12.

"The Authority has decided that interested applicants should be given three weeks to submit their applications for radio frequency spectrum license. This reasoning is motivated by the fact that the previous draft Regulations were subjected to public comments," said Robert Nkuna, ICASA councilor, in a speech posted on the ICASA Web site.

The initial invitation was withdrawn in February last year, to pave way for the finalization of the Terrestrial Broadcasting Frequency Plan, 2008, which was completed last November. The withdrawal was also to allow the regulator time to create certainty and predictability in the licensing of mobile TV services.

Nkuna said that ICASA will license broadcasters in one multiplex this year, then open a second multiplex once the authority has decided on the opening of the pay-TV market to new entities, which will be a separate process.

Applicants for licenses in the first multiplex will not be allowed to hold more than 60 percent of the frequency in the multiplex, and not less than 20 percent, ICASA said.

In the speech, Nkuna said that ICASA has already received submissions from stakeholders in the mobile broadcasting sector including Hi Tech Audio, Multichoice, Kagiso Media, E-TV, Mobile TV Consortium, Neotel, Telkom South Africa and the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation.