SA's largest mobile operators believe data prices could start falling once the government releases additional spectrum next month. But much will depend on the cost of the spectrum. President Cyril Ramaphosa said the state would begin the process after repeatedly missing earlier deadlines. However, Legalbrief reports that not everyone is buying this. If it does happen, it will be the first time in 14 years that additional spectrum is released in the country. Mobile operators have long blamed the lack of it for the country’s high data prices which are some of the most expensive in the world. Business Day reports that spectrum refers to the radio signals set aside to carry data over the air, including for mobile phones, TV and global positioning systems (GPSs). It is a limited resource largely controlled by the government. The release of additional spectrum will be key in terms of diversifying and boosting competition in the telecommunications sector and reducing the cost of data. ‘Wherever we have gone, young people have continuously raised the issue of the excessive high data costs in SA. To provide impetus to this process, within the next month, the Minister of Communications will issue the policy direction to Icasa to commence the spectrum-licensing process,’ Ramaphosa said. He said the planned move was a vital part of bringing down the costs of data ‘which is essential both for economic development and for unleashing opportunities for young people’. He called on the telecommunications industry further to bring down the cost of data ‘so that it is in line with other countries in the world’.