The country’s communications watchdog said on Monday it has taken a decision to extend the validity period of existing radio frequency spectrum licences in line with regulation 10 of the Radio Frequency Spectrum Regulations.
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has resolved to grant all radio frequency spectrum licence holders an extension to renew their licences by no later than the 30th of June 2020.
In terms of the Regulations, the due date for the renewal of radiofrequency spectrum licences is 31 March annually.
The Regulations further provide that failure to pay the prescribed licence renewal fee by the due date (i.e. 31 March annually), will result in the expiry of the radio frequency spectrum licence immediately on the next calendar day that marks the beginning of the new financial year.
Also read: Coronavirus: Vodacom e-School Platform Nears 1-m Registrations
odacom e-School platform is proving to be invaluable for the scores of school-going children at home on extended school break as the country grapples with Corovavirus (COVID-19).
User registration on the platform since schools closed has been unprecedented over the past two weeks with the total number of registered users now close on 1 million.
On Sunday 15 March, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a raft of measures to protect the country from the spread of the COVID-19. Schools closed from Wednesday, 18 March until after Easter Holidays. This meant that parents had to find alternative methods to help their children continue learning during the extended school break.
To show the phenomenal uptake on Vodacom e-School during this time, user registrations on the platform are up by over 1000% compared to previous historic periods. For the time being, content utilisation increased by 300% over previous averages, with Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Accounting topping the charts. The massive sudden increase in registration started on Sunday, 15 March, with Vodacom e-School going from an average of 40 000 student events per day to a peak of close to 150 000.
