ARC Investments, which holds a 20.3% interest in rain, said the provider will use the newly acquired spectrum bought last year in an auction to launch its mobile service, without giving any other details on the plan.

Earlier this year, rain and No.3 mobile network provider Telkom terminated discussions about a potential acquisition of rain after the parties decided that a suitable transaction was not possible at that time.

(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Sharon Singleton)