South African fibre infrastructure provider Openserve, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Telkom Group, has helped to pave the way for a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Southern Africa Telecommunication Association (SATA) and the World Broadband Association (WBBA).
WBBA is a global, member-led organisation that serves as the collective voice for the broadband industry. It brings together cloud, AI and broadband industry stakeholders to address and drive forward shared goals.
The organisation mobilises seven working groups annually, each focusing on specific topics of common interest to WBBA members, to produce white papers that address industry challenges and provide actionable insights and recommendations. These working groups serve as pillars of knowledge, innovation and thought leadership within the broadband industry.
Beauty Apleni, current chair of SATA and CEO at Openserve, says this agreement will inject much-needed capacity to drive progress in growing the SADC region’s digital economy and addressing the industry challenges confronting industry providers and customers alike.
“Through the signing of this MOU, SATA members will derive meaningful benefits such as having access to the liaison and collaboration committees that the WBBA subscribes to. Other examples of these benefits include access to the white papers published by the WBBA, as well as access to other important industry bodies,” she says.
Apleni delegated the responsibility of signing the MOU to Selby Khuzwayo, chief regional officer for North Zone at Openserve.
Openserve is one of the founding members of the WBBA, which was established in 2021, and has a board seat, which is currently occupied by Dr Sunil Piyarlall, executive at Openserve.
In addition to this, the Telkom Group and Openserve hold the chair of SATA, since April 2025, where the WBBA participated in the 45th Annual SATA Conference, hosted by Openserve. One of the key conference resolutions was to formalise the relationship between SATA and WBBA by signing an MOU.
Jacob Munodawafa, CEO of SATA, says: “We are delighted that this resolution has come to fruition within months of its passing in April 2025."
Under the MOU, SATA members and the African continent at large will benefit in the following areas:
- Expanding broadband access.
- Supporting standardisation of broadband customer premises equipment.
- Harmonising broadband policy and regulatory harmonisation in southern Africa.
- Advocacy and awareness creation on broadband development and related issues.
- Event collaboration, participating in global industry events.
Martin Creaner, director general of the WBBA, adds: “We are delighted to sign the MOU with SATA as it strengthens our presence on the African continent, which will ensure that our conversations and decisions are inclusive. This milestone aligns with our vision of a world where everyone has access to high-speed, reliable and affordable connectivity.”
The WBBA will host the next Broadband Development Conference (BDC) in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 30 September. Discussions will be held on the rehoming of pre-owned fibre-to-the-home equipment across Africa. BDC Cape Town is currently in the planning stages and is scheduled to take place on 11 November in Cape Town.
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