The telecoms spectrum is a limited but essential resource for the provision of telecommunications services. The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia wants to optimize the management of this resource.
The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has announced that it will review its frequency bands every four years, in line with new guidelines from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). These directives promote cross-border interoperability and new technologies.
According to Emilia Nghikembua, director general of CRAN, the regulator “ will modify the frequency band allocations and regulations if necessary, following the appropriate regulatory process ”. Thus, spectrum license holders would be required to migrate to new frequencies following the entry into force of a new frequency band plan. The authority will treat each migration on a case-by-case basis.
This initiative is part of one of the missions of the Communications Regulatory Authority, which is spectrum management with the aim of “ facilitating the availability of spectrum to be used as a tool for the development of communication services and the access to information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure .
It comes three weeks after the regulator announced that it will suspend the allocation of new telecommunications licenses, between October 1, 2022 and September 30, 2023, in order to assess the level of competition in the Namibian mobile market and determine saturation level.
Through this initiative, the communications policeman wants to comply with the latest regulatory trends and technological developments in order to guarantee the efficient use of the limited resource that is the telecom spectrum. “ It is essential to ensure interoperability between systems and networks, to facilitate frequency coordination between countries and to establish international systems ,” said Ms. Nghikembua.
This initiative is also expected to help develop Namibia’s ICT sector. This will contribute to social and economic development and enable governments and people to take advantage of the digital transformation as well as the opportunities presented by the fourth industrial revolution.