For purposes of these Schedule A Regulations unless the context indicates otherwise—

"the Act"

means the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Act, 2007 (Act No. 21 of 2007);

"assessment point"

means the SKA Virtual Centre or another geographical location or point defined in terms of these regulations, which location is used as the assessment point for the applicable protection measures as prescribed in these regulations;

"dBm"

means the radio frequency power level expressed in decibels relative to one milliwatt;

"designated service"

means a radio communications service used in the Karoo central astronomy advantage areas that is classified as a designated service in terms of the criteria and procedures prescribed in regulation 7 of Schedule B of these Regulations;

"Electronic Communications Act"

means the Electronic Communications Act, 2005 (Act No. 36 of 2005);

"effective radiated power"

means the product of the power level supplied to the antenna and the antenna gain relative to a half-wave dipole in the relevant direction;

"ICASA"

means the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa, an independent regulatory body established in terms of the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa Act, 2000 (Act No. 13 of 2000), responsible for regulating broadcasting, postal services and electronic communications in the Republic;

"ICASA Spectrum Regulations 2015"

means the radio frequency spectrum regulations published by ICASA on 30 March 2015 in Government Gazette No. 38641, under Notice No. 279;

"Karoo central astronomy advantage areas"

means the Karoo central astronomy advantage areas declared on 12 March 2014 in Government Gazette No. 37434, under Notice No. 198;

"Karoo core astronomy advantage area"

means the Karoo core astronomy advantage area declared on 20 August 2010 in Government Gazette No. 33462, under Notice No. 723;

"licence exempt operator"

means a person who provides a service pursuant to an exemption granted by ICASA in terms of section 6 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2005 or uses radio frequency spectrum which is exempt from requiring a radio frequency spectrum licence by virtue of section 31(6) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2005 and regulations made in terms thereof, and includes the users of the radio equipment;

"licensee"

as defined in the Electronic Communications Act, 2005, means a person issued with a licence to provide services in terms of Chapter 3 or to use the radio frequency spectrum in terms of Chapter 5 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2005;

"management authority"

means the organ of state to which the Minister has assigned the management of the Karoo central astronomy advantage areas in terms of section 15 of the Act and includes any party with whom the management authority has entered into a co-management agreement for the co-management of the Karoo central astronomy advantage areas in terms of section 18 of the Act;

"protection corridors"

means parcels of land, each measuring a radius of 100m, and centred on each SKA_MID station located along a defined route along one of three spiral arms within the KCAAA 1 and which also applies to KCAAA 2 and KCAAA 3, depending on the frequency spectrum being used;

[Definition substituted by section 1 of Notice No. 4726, GG50527, dated 17 April 2024]

"Protection Levels Regulations 2012"

means the regulations on radio astronomy protection levels to be applied in core and central astronomy advantage areas declared for the purposes of radio astronomy published on 10 February 2012, in Government Gazette No. 35007, under Notice No. R90;

"radio astronomy station"

means one or more receiving systems at a location, including accessory equipment, for receiving radio waves of cosmic origin for the purposes of radio astronomy;

"radio communication"

means the emission, transmission or reception of information, including, without limitation, voice, sound, data, text, video, animation, visual images, moving images and pictures, signals or a combination thereof by means of radio or other electromagnetic waves without the aid of a tangible conductor;

"radio equipment"

means a product or relevant component thereof, capable of communications by means of radio waves utilising spectrum allocated to terrestrial/space radio communication;

"radio frequency interference"

means the detrimental effect of received radio communication signals that exceed the protection levels prescribed in the Protection Levels Regulations, 2012, for more than 5% of the time over a 24- hour period;

"radio station"

means one or more transmitters or receivers or a combination of transmitters and receivers, including the accessory equipment, necessary at one location for carrying an electronic communications service, broadcasting service or any electronic communications authorised by ICASA, and any radio equipment used at a specific geographical location;

"radio waves"

means electromagnetic waves of frequencies from 8.3 kHz to 3000 GHz, propagated in space without an artificial guide;

"saturation level"

means the total received power level of (minus) -100 dBm, or higher, within the transmission bandwidth of the radio communication producing the radio frequency interference level at which the saturation phenomenon occurs at a radio astronomy station or at a specified assessment point or points, or within a specified area;

"Schedule B Regulations 2017"

means the regulations on administrative matters for the Karoo central astronomy advantage areas, which is Schedule B of these Regulations;

"Schedule C Regulations 2017"

means the regulations on financial compensation procedures for the Karoo central astronomy advantage areas, which is Schedule C of these Regulations;

"SKA"

means the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope consisting of an array of radio astronomy stations to be located within the Republic of South Africa and in participating African countries in accordance with the decision of the SKA Organisation; and

"SKA Virtual Centre"

means the geographical point located at geographical coordinates 30.71292 degrees south and 21.44380 degrees East that relates to the SKA array of radio astronomy stations within the Karoo astronomy advantage areas and is specified as the assessment point for the application of the protection levels as defined in the Protection Levels Regulations, 2012.