ICTA grants 5G licenses to three mobile operators

With the granting by the country’s ICT Authority (ICTA) of 5G licences to three mobile operators, Mauritius is the latest African country to take a step towards launching 5G.

The three operators are Cellplus Ltd, Emtel Ltd and Mahanagar Telecom Mauritius Limited (MTML).

ICTA had released a public consultation regarding the opening of frequency bands for 5G in February. Invitations were sent out in April to the three mobile operators to apply for radio spectrum that would enable them to deploy 5G networks.

Following responses received from them, a total of 300MHz of radio spectrum in the 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz bands was made available by the regulator. Three blocks of 100MHz each were made available in the two different frequency bands.

ICT Chairman Dick Ng Sui Wa said Mauritius will soon be among the first few countries on the African continent to launch 5G commercially.

However, the suspected health risks linked to 5G radiation, including cancer, genetic damages and cognitive health continue to be source of concern.