A concise summary of WAPALOZA 2025 by Paul Colmer, Executive Committee Member at WAPA
What a week it's been! The 2025 WAPALOZA Conference wrapped up in Johannesburg this week, and I'm still buzzing from the energy, insights, and genuine passion for connectivity that filled the room.
As someone who's been deeply involved in the wireless communications industry, I can honestly say this year's event was something special – a perfect blend of technical innovation, regulatory insight, and inspirational entrepreneurship that really captured where we are as an industry and where we're heading.
Setting the stage: Mind the Gap
Eduard du Plessis, CEO and Founder at Fixed Mobile Telecoms, kicked us off with a keynote that couldn't have been timelier. His "Mind the Gap" presentation wasn't just about technology – it was about the fundamental challenge we face in South Africa: how do we bridge our digital divide for good?
It's a question that hung over everything we discussed throughout the three days, and rightly so. The mechanisms we need aren't just technical; they're regulatory, financial, and deeply human. We ultimately need to collaborate across the wireless industry, and together we cover the country.
The spectrum revolution
One of the most fascinating discussions came from Dean Bubley, our star international speaker and Director of Disruptive Analysis. Dean's talk on spectrum sharing opened up a conversation that I think will define the next decade of our industry.
We're moving away from the traditional "gold rush" mentality where spectrum was something you owned exclusively if you could afford it, toward a more collaborative approach where sharing becomes the norm.
The panel Dean hosted was particularly enlightening. We had incredible expertise in the room – Martha Suarez, President of Dynamic Spectrum Alliance; ICASA Councillor Thabisa Faye; Peter Zimri of Zimri Consulting; Dr. Jabhera Matogoro, Lecturer from Tanzania’s University of Dodoma; and Digital Transformation Specialist and Paul Rowney from Namibia, who built the world's largest TV whitespace network.
The diversity of perspectives really drove home how complex but necessary spectrum sharing has become.
I made quite a bit of noise during that discussion about moving away from lower band sharing to focus on the upper portion of 6GHz spectrum. Here's the thing – we've got propagation problems with 5G in the 3.5GHz band already, so 6.5GHz upwards is going to have even worse propagation and less penetration into homes. But that's actually an opportunity, not just a problem.
This view was corroborated my Martha Suarez, who flew in to the conference directly from another conference she was attending in Brussels, in which the exact topic was discussed. As such, Martha unpacked the findings, from a European perspective, in a detailed presentation of the options we have with this spectrum band, and why it is of such value to local WISPs.
The big cellular companies haven't invested properly in 5G infrastructure in places like shopping centres and sports stadiums. This is where WISPs can shine. We can build high-quality networks in these challenging environments and use Open Roaming to hand over seamlessly to Vodacom or MTN where it makes sense.
It's collaboration, not competition – and frankly, it's the future. The allocation of the upper 6GHz band for unlicensed use, as opposed to IMT, will form part of the essential toolbox for WISPs to complete our mission of affordable access for all.
Innovation in action
The afternoon session I hosted on end-user experience really drove home how much our industry is evolving beyond simple connectivity.
We're talking about applications like Wi-Fi Sensing now – and I had the chance to do the first live demonstration in South Africa. We had a volunteer "break into" my hotel room, and the Wi-Fi picked up the intrusion immediately. The technology is remarkable, and it shows how Wi-Fi is becoming an intelligent sensing platform, not just a data pipe.
Day two brought us David Porter, Director of Distribution and Sales from Ekahau, who showed us how AI is revolutionising Wi-Fi network design. His company's software can map buildings and determine optimal access point placement, then use machine learning to continuously optimise performance based on real usage patterns. It's a new generation of intelligent network design that's going to transform how we think about deployment and management.
The satellite reality check
Our satellite panel generated some of the liveliest discussion of the conference. Everyone wants to talk about Starlink – it's the hot topic – but we dug deeper than the headlines. Yes, Starlink is coming, but OneWeb is already legally available in South Africa. Amazon's Project Kuiper is on the way. The Chinese are building their own constellation.
But here's what I think got lost in all the hype: Starlink isn't the WISP killer some people fear it is. It has real limitations – downloading certain apps is problematic, WhatsApp calling isn't ideal. It's going to be complementary rather than primary. In countries that initially moved from WISPs to Starlink, many have actually moved back to WISPs.
Dominick Cull from Ellipsis Regulatory Solutions brought us back to reality on the regulatory front. If government creates equity-equivalent laws for satellite services, the licensing process changes required will take time. He believes this will delay Starlink adoption by at least two years – the government machinery simply doesn't move that fast.
A wireless ecosystem
Dr. Charley Lewis from ICASA delivered a compelling presentation on the ecosystem of connectivity, demonstrating how different forms of wireless technology don't compete but rather complement each other. His analysis showed how various connectivity solutions – from cellular to Wi-Fi to satellite – each have unique strengths and weaknesses that, when combined, create a robust network ecosystem serving different needs across our diverse landscape.
This ecosystem thinking was perfectly illustrated by Tauriq Brown's inspiring talk closing day two. Brown shared the chronological journey of his Cape Town-based company, Too Much Wi-Fi, from humble startup to a powerhouse servicing underserved areas across the Western Cape. His story exemplified how local WISPs can scale dramatically while staying true to their mission of connecting communities that larger operators overlook.
The collaboration between industry and regulators was evident throughout, with ICASA's Thabiso Faye actively participating in our spectrum sharing discussions proving that working together isn't just an aspiration – it's happening right now as we tackle South Africa's connectivity challenges.
The human stories that matter most
But the real heart of WAPALOZA wasn't in the technical presentations or regulatory discussions – it was in the human stories.
Songezo Mhambi's talk on "How I Built a Wisp" was absolutely inspirational. Here's a guy who started with network switches on his bed because the roof was leaking everywhere else, literally sleeping with his network equipment. He fought to get bank funding, overcame incredible hurdles, and now he's expanding and creating employment.
Today, Songezo is, among other things, Founder and CEO at Mdaswifi, Founder at Vice-Tech, a renowned tech entrepreneur and a digital evangelist.
Jabulani Vilakzi, Founder of the Soweto Wireless User Group (SOWUG), shared his own story – starting with nothing, building gradually, losing major clients to fibre, then fighting to get them back. These aren't just business stories; they're stories of determination and community impact.
If we could clone Songezo and Jabulani's spirit, character, determination, and know-how, I genuinely believe we could have everyone in South Africa affordably connected within 6-12 months. That's not hyperbole – that's the power of the entrepreneurial spirit we saw on display.
AI: Promise and Peril
Dr. Matogoro Lecturer at the University of Dodoma’s presentation on AI applications was fascinating, particularly his work on mental health assessment systems in Tanzania. But our OpenAI discussion raised important questions: Is AI answering our questions or creating more questions? The example of AI skin cancer detection being fooled by rulers in photographs was a perfect illustration of the "garbage in, garbage out" principle.
We had some heated ethical debates about autonomous drones in warfare – technology advancing faster than our ability to control it responsibly. These aren't abstract concerns; they're immediate challenges our industry needs to grapple with.
Looking forward
What struck me most about this year's WAPALOZA was the sense of pragmatic optimism. Yes, we have massive challenges – the digital divide is wider than ever and growing. But we also have incredible innovation, regulatory progress from ICASA that's leading Africa, and most importantly, entrepreneurs like Songezo and Jabulani who refuse to accept that connectivity can't reach everyone.
The conference showed us that the future of wireless isn't about any single technology winning. It's about collaboration between WISPs, cellular operators, satellite providers, and regulators to create an ecosystem where everyone benefits. Spectrum sharing, AI-driven optimisation, seamless roaming between networks – these aren't just technical concepts, they're the building blocks of a truly connected South Africa.
We gave away plenty of prizes – radios, routers, even helicopter rides – but the real prize was the knowledge sharing and community building that happened over these three days. That's what will ultimately bridge our digital divide: not just technology, but the human connections and collaborative spirit that make technology work for everyone.
Paul Colmer is an Executive Committee Member at the Wireless Access Providers' Association (WAPA) and hosted the 2025 WAPALOZA Conference in Johannesburg.
About WAPA
WAPA, established in 2006, is a non-profit trade association acting as a collective voice for the wireless industry. WAPA’s primary objective is to promote the growth of the wireless industry by facilitating self-regulation, promoting best practices, and educating both members and the market about new wireless technologies and business models. WAPA offers its members regulatory advice, technical training, a code of conduct, a forum for knowledge-sharing and business-enablement opportunities.
WAPA is positioned to be an interface between the government regulator (ICASA), network operators, service providers, and consumers. WAPA regularly makes submissions and presentations to the government on regulations affecting the wireless industry. WAPA is tirelessly lobbying for more progressive and efficient spectrum management in South Africa and is focusing on the possibilities of dynamic unlicensed spectrum for interference-free access.
Media enquiries: Lesley Colmer, WAPA
Contact details: 083-408-0151, [email protected]
Issued by: Michelle Oelschig, Scarlet Letter
Contact details: 083-636-1766, [email protected]
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