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Effective competition and ineffective mobile industry regulation in South Africa

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  • Howell, Bronwyn E.
  • Potgieter, Petrus H.

Abstract

The most striking feature of South Africa’s mobile market is the skewed allocation of spectrum and a seemingly endless sequence of failed attempts to hold an auction for it. A shortage of spectrum (or the inefficient assignment of it) is blamed, among other things, for South Africa’s relatively slow LTE 4G speeds. Through historical accident, the country has two mobile data networks in addition to the four licensed mobile operators. The response of operators has been to innovate using roaming and network sharing agreements; as we explore in this paper, these have become the de facto spectrum allocation process.

Suggested Citation

  • Howell, Bronwyn E. & Potgieter, Petrus H., 2022. "Effective competition and ineffective mobile industry regulation in South Africa," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:46:y:2022:i:7:s0308596122000209
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2022.102317
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    References listed on IDEAS

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