internet

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

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

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.

A couple of Fibre Network stories have made the headlines recently. We would love to share them with you. Click here to read more about the ‘Groundbreaking Telkom-Vodacom judgement’ and ‘Removal of ICASA chairperson Rubben Mahlaloga after conviction on fraud charges’

Telkom judgement is Groundbreaking for Fibre Network – Vodacom

Vodacom has described the Supreme Court of Appeal ruling that Vodacom is allowed to use certain Telkom ducts and sleeves to roll out its fibre network as groundbreaking.

ICASA has delayed the implementation date for certain regulations relating to an option to opt-out of notification for depletion of voice, SMS and data services and the out-of-bundle usage requirements for the end user. D-day is 12 April 2019, to allow the carriers time to configure their systems and processes. Rollover of unused data, data transfer and defaulting onto out of bundle charges regulations came into force on March 2019. Read more on this subject by Paul Colmer

WAPA Committee member Paul Colmer takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the hype around 5G and the related Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

The hype is everywhere, it’s the answer to all world evils, it’s 5G. Is it real and what can we expect from our galactic adventure? The problem lies in the fact that the hype is there to herd the investors into the trillion-dollar global playing field but where there is hype you require a new vocabulary to fuel it. This inevitably leads to confusion. Read more about cutting through the confusion