MTN South Africa to challenge Vodacom’s legal action over spectrum pooling agreements

MTN South Africa has recently made it known that they intend to challenge a legal action initiated by Vodacom. Vodacom has filed a lawsuit claiming that MTN’s spectrum sharing agreements with Cell C and Liquid Intelligent Technologies are in violation of the law.

The dispute began in May 2024 when Vodacom took legal steps to obtain an injunction against Icasa, the communications regulator, with the aim of halting what they referred to as MTN’s “clandestine” spectrum pooling arrangements. Vodacom’s stance is that these deals, which they believe unfairly benefit MTN, were covertly sanctioned by Icasa, thus breaching legal protocols.

In defense, MTN has articulated that such collaborative agreements are permissible under the current South African regulatory framework. The telecom giant has asserted that it adhered to the stipulations of the Electronic Communications Act, securing the necessary approval from Icasa. To counter Vodacom’s legal challenge, MTN has filed a legal response with the high court in Pretoria.

MTN has refuted the allegations of underhandedness made by Vodacom, maintaining that it has been forthright about its intentions to enter into spectrum pooling agreements with other network operators.

The root of Vodacom’s legal challenge appears to be a suspicion that MTN has gained an unfair network speed advantage. This suspicion prompted an investigation, as detailed in an affidavit by Vodacom’s managing executive for regulatory affairs, Andrew Barendse.

Vodacom’s investigation led them to the conclusion that MTN might be utilizing more spectrum than it is officially allotted by sharing spectrum with Cell C and Liquid, thus potentially skewing the competitive landscape in their favor.

MTN, while acknowledging its spectrum-sharing practices, has countered that if Vodacom’s legal bid were to succeed, it would result in a deterioration of MTN’s network quality, which would adversely affect a large segment of the South African population.

MTN believes that Vodacom’s case lacks substantial evidence to warrant the injunction and is of the opinion that the court should dismiss the request. In a parallel move, Cell C has also declared its intention to resist Vodacom’s injunction, emphasizing that the regulatory body has complied with the appropriate legal procedures.