News

Some ISPs are concerned about the timing of ICASA interim transformation requirements, suggesting that April 2022 does not give them enough time to establish effective agreements. 

We urgently need your feedback on Wi-Fi 6E regulatory so please check out that section if it’s a spectrum band that’s on your radar. Expect high-demand spectrum issue to go to court. As of the regulatory briefing on 16 August 2021 there was a draft settlement order being circulated by the parties involved.

There’s a big noise about how fibre prices are tumbling as it reaches a lot more towns and communities faster than ever. But there’s also a bit of steam developing around an increasingly pressured pot of fibre contractors wrecking local infrastructure and disrupting other fibre networks in the process.

In short, no, it’s illegal, and you will be caught. But, that said, there are legal ways to provide connectivity. It is also legal to put Wi-Fi across your own property but that changes if you cross a public space. You’re also not allowed to share your Internet link according to the contracts you sign for connectivity.

The Cybercrimes Act recently signed into law in South Africa does not put WISPs (wireless Internet service providers) and other ISPs under any obligation to monitor their subscribers or report them to the SAPS for online copyright infringement (commonly referred to as piracy).

In South Africa’s wide open and expansive geography, the majority of people live in cities. But elsewhere access to services such as Internet can be problematic. Fixed wireless internet helps small towns, farmers, communities and rural residents get stable, fast internet.

Our recent regional event at Polokwane on April 15, 2021, was one of our best attended. WAPA members came from several provinces to hear about the new regulatory changes in our sector, the impact of emerging satellite services, how to deal with the fibre challenge, how to cope with new threats in our unlicensed 5.8GHz spectrum, and TV white space opportunities. We know WISPs face significant challenges now. You have to deal with new regulatory requirements that may have a marked effect on your businesses. You face a whole raft of competitor businesses and rival technologies. And your markets are changing very quickly.

There are pros and cons to every type of Internet connectivity, so how are you supposed to know which is the best network for your work from home or to run a business? Choosing one can become difficult. There are five main types, but each has its own pros and cons, and they come with technical terms which for non-technical people can be a bit of a headache.

Lots of South Africans now work from home, there are hundreds of thousands of formal small businesses operating in the country and they employ around 4.2 million people, yet connectivity can be one of the many challenges they face as they try to stay afloat.

Getting a reliable connection isn’t what most people want to worry about right now. We’re already afraid of so much: losing income, being retrenched, contracting Covid-19, the economic effects of load shedding, the results of state capture, and a lot more besides.

To connect the rural unconnected to affordable internet is not so much a technical problem but more one of economics. For the large mobile operators, it is of no economic value to connect people who live away from the main rural highways in sparsely populated areas, even as a loss- leader project. TV WhiteSpace technology is the way forward.