The Internet Service Providers’ Association (Ispa), an industry body that has historically served as the voice of South Africa’s ISP community, wants to expand its membership base to include mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).

The 30-year-old organisation, which was founded to fight Telkom’s efforts to expand its monopoly into internet services in the 1990s, has long been a voice of – and lobby group for – the country’s many ISPs, small and large.

“In 2025 and beyond, Ispa will apply lessons learnt to the mobile data market on which the majority of South Africans rely for connectivity,” it said on Wednesday.

“In particular, Ispa’s new board will seek to grow its membership base among MVNOs, which are, in reality, a form of ISP,” it said in a statement.

The expansion of its focus to include MVNOs comes after Ispa’s recent AGM, at which it announced new board appointments.

Ntokozo Mbonani and Doreen Mokoena will join the Ispa board for the first time and will serve a three-year term. Mbonani is a regulatory adviser at NTT Data (previously Dimension Data). Mokoena is founder and CEO of Cybersec Clinique, a specialist information security firm.

At the same time, Cheryl Dinkelmann, Gideon le Grange and André van der Walt are stepping down from the Ispa board, while Dave Gale, Jerry Maleka and Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi have been re-elected.

Three-year term

Sasha Booth-Beharilal will stay on as Ispa chair, with Enzio von Diest as deputy.

New Ispa board members are elected to serve a three-year term and are eligible to serve for a maximum of six consecutive years, and then become ineligible for further reappointment until one year has passed.

Ispa, which has about 230 members, said the organisation’s “counsel and informed advice regarding creating a world-class ICT framework for South Africa are taken seriously by the country’s decision makers”.

Read: Fibre operators make switching ISPs difficult: Ispa

“This is largely due to the deep trove of sector knowledge that exists within Ispa. Ispa’s board acquires and distils this knowledge through working groups, industry feedback, industry partners and various other entities.” — © 2024 NewsCentral Media