Justicia Shipena
The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (Cran) has shut down UCOM Mobile Namibia and confiscated its radio equipment after repeated violations of the Communications Act.
Cran said UCOM continued transmitting illegally even after its spectrum licences were cancelled in February and December 2023.
The cancellations were due to non-payment of fees and inefficient use of spectrum that resulted in hoarding.
The regulator gave UCOM six months, until June 2024, to migrate its roughly 1 000 customers and close its operations.
According to Cran, all services were meant to stop after that deadline.
Cran’s executive for communication and consumer relations, Mufaro Nesongano, said spectrum audits in July, September and October 2025 showed that UCOM was still offering services without authorisation.
He said the audits confirmed the company continued operating despite its licences being cancelled.
He said the findings confirmed that the company continued operating despite its licences being cancelled.
Nesongano said this breached section 101(1) of the Communications Act.
On 3 October 2025, Cran ordered the company to stop using radio spectrum and to provide written confirmation within 24 hours, but UCOM did not comply.
Nesongano said the continued illegal transmissions interfered with networks of licensed operators and affected service quality for consumers.
With assistance from the police, Nesongano said CRAN confiscated UCOM’s radio equipment under section 102 of the act. This action shut down the network entirely.
“This decision was not taken lightly but is necessary to protect the proper use of the radio spectrum and to ensure better service for customers. UCOM was given sufficient time since December 2023 to fix its compliance issues but did not do so,” said Nesongano.
He encouraged affected customers to move to licensed operators to access reliable services.
The shutdown ends UCOM Mobile’s operations in Namibia unless the company resolves its regulatory breaches and regains approval to operate.
