News

WAPA is in the process of regionalising its members’ lists to make it easier for the public in your region to find you. We’re also adding a connectivity map that makes the process really quick and simple.

It’s on! The WAPALOZA training conference and Expo is booked to take place from 16-18 September 2019 at Leriba Lodge, Centurion, Gauteng. We have a limited number of valuable sponsorship opportunities available. To find out more about sponsorship opportunities please download the WAPALOZA brochure.

WAPA has embarked on an aggressive social media marketing campaign to dramatically increase the number of connection requests from the public. Four days a week on Facebook we post content that will drive more connection requests via the WAPA website and ultimately to you. There are both generic and regional posts and we have invested in boosting of the posts to ensure they reach an extended, target audience.

Want to add value to the exposure of your brand? We have a number of sponsorship opportunities available that will give your brand the marketing boost it needs.

June is officially the start of winter and it’s also the month in which we bring training to the Mother City. So if you are based in the Western Cape (or if you fancy a break from your home town!) join us on 6 June as we unpack the mysteries of fibre technology. Being held at Rondekuil Estates in Durbanville on 6 June, the fundamental fibre training agenda is packed with important information

Fibre Training at Western Cape Agenda

• How to manage a layer3 ISP on fibre 

• Introduction and history

In September WAPA will host the three-day WAPALOZA event in Johannesburg. This event will focus on intense training, which could be split between business and technical topics.

WAPA is currently in discussions with ICASA on the End User Charter Agreement. Read more about WAPA chairperson Tim Genders’ communications with the Authority. 

In a letter to ICASA’s CEO, Willington Ngwepe, Genders says that WAPA welcomes the End User Charter Agreement and its implementation into law on 1 March 2019.

“We have advised our members to be compliant with the following:

1. Providing usage notifications

In a series of 12 small villages in the Eastern Cape, residents are showing the world how access to cost-effective wireless communication network can be achieved. Read more here about this incredible achievement.

Mankosi, a remote rural community in the Eastern Cape, is home to almost 6 000 people. The nearest city is Mthatha, about 60 kilometres away, as the crow flies. Most homes in the villages are not connected to the electricity grid and residents charge their cellphones at a local shop or shebeen, for which they must pay.

Tim Genders, Chairperson of WAPA, says that the goal is that every home in South Africa should be connected to the internet, with equitable pricing, within the next 10 years. And WAPA members will play a huge role in this programme, which is why we are covering the Spectrum Licensing process.

While one of the goals – connectivity to every household – may be a reality, the same cannot be said of the affordability/equitability of pricing. It is no secret that low-income areas pay 80 times more for data than data in high-income areas.