South Africa

That three men were handed 30-year sentences each for stealing cell tower batteries sends a clear message from South Africa’s judiciary, the intent of which WAPA supports.

You could probably get more reliable, fast connectivity at a price you can afford. Of the 38 million South Africans who used the Internet as of January 2021, 36 million did so on mobile. Not all of them used mobile data (just the mobile device connected to Wi-Fi). But a lot of South Africans are using prepaid or contract data. It’s the most expensive way to connect in this country and among the most expensive worldwide.

Average revenues for Internet service providers (WISPs) who responded to the Wireless Access Provider’s Association (WAPA) survey (76% of all members) exceed R3 billion, employing 2 785 people and serving more than 200 424 home and business customers.

South Africans who work from home, study online and try to keep their businesses alive rely on connectivity, without which it all ends. “Digital loadshedding” is small-fry compared with digital fratricide. ICASA is effectively snuffing the concerted and, quite frankly, miraculous efforts of so many businesses, workers and students, who have survived lockdown using nothing but cellular connectivity, by reclaiming 5G spectrum from the mobile networks.

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.

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.

“We’ve got a long history of working flat out for the industry. Probably the biggest benefit for most of the new WISPs is the training we offer, the regulatory advice from our specialist lawyers, and the forum for technical advice, because it helps them get their businesses up and running quickly and effectively,” says Karel Venter, deputy chair of WAPA and volunteer at the non-profit.