--- title: Prime spectrum lies idle as the Woan’s ghost lingers description: South Africa's communications regulator Icasa has left spectrum originally set aside for the now-defunct Wholesale Open Access Network (Woan) unassigned more... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/prime-spectrum-lies-idle-as-the-woan-s-ghost-lingers-g66atgkqi twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Prime spectrum lies idle as the Woan’s ghost lingers | daily.dev og:description: South Africa's communications regulator Icasa has left spectrum originally set aside for the now-defunct Wholesale Open Access Network (Woan) unassigned more... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/prime-spectrum-lies-idle-as-the-woan-s-ghost-lingers-g66atgkqi og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/G66aTgkQi.png og:image:alt: Prime spectrum lies idle as the Woan’s ghost lingers og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Prime spectrum lies idle as the Woan’s ghost lingers **[TechCentral](https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary South Africa's communications regulator Icasa has left spectrum originally set aside for the now-defunct Wholesale Open Access Network (Woan) unassigned more than four years after cabinet moved to scrap the scheme. The newly published IMT Roadmap 2026 explicitly excludes any discussion of the Woan, citing ongoing policy uncertainty. Unassigned blocks include 20MHz in the 700MHz band and 30MHz at 2.6GHz, plus a further 20MHz in the 800MHz band. Mobile operators MTN and Vodacom have urged Icasa to release the idle spectrum for commercial use, warning that set-asides reduce competition and risk underutilisation. The roadmap forecasts a significant spectrum shortage, with projected demand of 3,000–14,000MHz over the next decade against only 794MHz currently assigned. Meanwhile, the State Digital Infrastructure Company merger of Sentech and Broadband Infraco has slipped to 2028/2029. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. 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