The ICASA auction for broadband spectrum starts today, 08 March 2022 with the in-person single round opt-in auction. The main online auction shall take place from 10 March 2022. On 21 February ICASA announced the bidders who qualified for the spectrum auction process. This followed the receipt of six (6) applications on 31 January 2022 in response to the Invitation To Apply (ITA) issued on 10 December 2021. In line with the truncated timetable published by the Authority for this licensing process, and after extensive analysis of received applications, the qualifying bidders are: 1. Cell C, 2. Liquid Telecoms, 3. MTN, 4. Rain Networks, 5. Telkom, 6. Vodacom. This therefore means that all six applications have passed the pre-qualification stage of the licensing process and can participate in today's auction process. "The fact that all six applicants have qualified illustrates the robustness of our telecommunications sector in South Africa", the chairperson of ICASA, Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng said.