Icasa Unveils 'innovation Spectrum' Plan To Boost Wireless Connectivity

It wants the bands in question, between 3.8GHz and 4.2GHz and between 5.925GHz and 6.425GHz, to be made available for "dynamic spectrum access", meaning they will be shared with other licensed telecommunications operators, provided they don't cause interference.

The draft regulations on dynamic spectrum access and opportunistic spectrum management were published in the Government Gazette late last week - read them here PDF - for public consultation.

"Dynamic and opportunistic spectrum assignment allows unused spectrum white spaces to be assigned and shared on a secondary basis without interfering with primary licence holders," Icasa said in a statement. "This approach ensures that radio frequency spectrum is readily available and improves spectrum efficiency by enabling the efficient use of the spectrum in many remote and underserved areas and across multiple locations."

It said the draft regulations mark the second phase of the implementation of the dynamic spectrum access and opportunistic spectrum management framework. The first phase resulted in the development of the framework for the use of television white spaces - the spectrum between TV channels - which came into effect in April 2021.

The regulator has "engaged in extensive consultations with current licensees and has conducted thorough simulations and pilot tests to assess the feasibility of the proposed dynamic spectrum access methodology using a geo-location database.