Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      New MD for Dell South Africa

      18 June 2025

      How a dowdy database maker became an investor darling

      18 June 2025

      Who let the dogs order? Sixty60 now delivers for Fido

      18 June 2025

      Chief sub-editor wanted – help shape South African tech media

      18 June 2025

      Starlink to South Africa: ‘We are ready to invest’

      17 June 2025
    • World

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025

      Yahoo tries to make its mail service relevant again

      13 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » News » Ispa welcomes one-time enemy Telkom as a member

    Ispa welcomes one-time enemy Telkom as a member

    By Duncan McLeod4 June 2021
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    When the Internet Service Providers’ Association (Ispa) was founded 25 years ago, its principal raison d’être was fighting Telkom’s stranglehold over South Africa’s telecommunications sector.

    A quarter of a century later, Telkom — through its wholesale division, Openserve — has formally joined the now almost 200 member-strong industry body, something that even 10 years ago would have been unthinkable.

    Telkom, after all, is the company that in the late 1990s — under the direction of foreign shareholders SBC Communications (now AT&T) and Telekom Malaysia — tried to claim a monopoly over the Internet protocol, which would, in effect, have killed off South Africa’s nascent commercial ISP industry.

    Much of Ispa’s early activities were focused on preventing Telkom from using its monopoly position to compete unfairly…

    “Much of Ispa’s early activities were focused on preventing Telkom from using its monopoly position to compete unfairly with the country’s fledgling Internet access providers,” Ispa said in a statement on Friday celebrating its 25th anniversary.

    “Ispa’s steadfast efforts eventually resulted in Competition Commission rulings that resulted in the split of Telkom’s wholesale and retail activities.”

    Describing the decision to accept Openserve as a member as “fitting”, Ispa said Openserve joins Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Seacom as its “three backbone members, who quite literally operate the backbones of the nation’s Internet infrastructure”.  — © 2021 NewsCentral Media



    Ispa Liquid Liquid Intelligent Technologies Openserve Seacom Telkom top
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleEskom suspends power cuts so parliament can meet
    Next Article MultiChoice coined it through Covid

    Related Posts

    TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

    16 June 2025

    MVNO boom is reshaping South Africa’s mobile market

    12 June 2025

    Watch | Lunga Siyo on Telkom’s big growth plans

    11 June 2025
    Company News

    Disrupt first, ask questions later – the uncomfortable truth about incident response

    18 June 2025

    Sage brings together HR leaders to explore the future of payroll and people management

    18 June 2025

    Altron: a brand journey, a birthday celebration and a bet on Joburg’s future

    17 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.