The Wireless Access Providers Association (WAPA) has formally constituted itself and has 23 paid-up members, mainly smaller wireless ISPs, says founding-chairman David Jarvis.
The first WAPA meeting was held last Friday after a number of Western Cape-based ISPs received letters from the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) asking them for their licence status. This letter was an initiative by the regulator's Cape Town office that is exploring complaints, lodged mainly by the larger players, that the smaller companies were not following the law.
Jarvis says while the majority of the companies are from the Cape, there has been a growing number from other parts of the country, which illustrates the national need for an organisation to represent these companies with the regulator and other bodies.
"We have drafted a code of conduct for our members and we hope to present it to ICASA next week. The codes of conduct should be signed off by 8 December," he says.
Jarvis says the growth of wireless ISP business is a symptom of the demand for connectivity, around which there are grey legal areas due to the Telecommunications Act being replaced by the Electronic Communications Act.
"These grey areas mean that businesses operate often on both sides of the law, and our objective is to tidy this up. One of the major issues is that ICASA has not been enforcing the laws," he says.
Some of the areas that WAPA hopes to liaise with ICASA on are compliance with technical specifications, spectrum usage and licensing requirements.
Jarvis says WAPA's formation is not a confrontational move, but a pragmatic one where the association can assist the authority regulate a sector that for a long time has had no regulation.
Related story:
WISPs to form WAPA
Share