Internet Service Providers Association

Year In ReviewSep 2005 Sep 2006

Changes

• Procedural– To smooth the AGM and speed election process:

• w.e.f last AGM, membership elects Management Committee members; Mancom elect the Treasurer and Chair(s) from within Mancom.

• Structural– To promote efficiency in day-to-day activities:

• w.e.f. April 2006, structure of ISPA changed. Four formal committees converted into 11 focused working groups

• Management• Masedi Molosiwa ceased involvement (Jan 2006)• Tebogo Khaas resigned (Feb 2006)

Structural Changes

• Pre-April 2006– Committees

• Management• Membership• Regulatory• Social Development• Technical

• April 2006 onwards– Committees

• Management

– Working groups• Code of Conduct• Events• Fair Competition• Finance• JINX Operations• Membership• Operator Liaison• Partnerships• Public Relations• Regulatory Submissions• Teachers Training

Code of Conduct

• Participants – Ant Brooks, Jenny King, Stewart McIntosh, Bretton Vine, William Stucke,

Elaine Zinn– No chair at present

• Purpose– Maintain ISPA's Code of Conduct and the complaints process

• Activities– Undertake periodic reviews of the Code of Conduct and associated

processes– Provide support to the Code of Conduct compliance officer– Assist ISPA's members in becoming compliant with the Code of Conduct– Provide feedback to ISPA members on the operation of the Code of

Conduct

• Budgetary requirements– Remuneration of independent panellists

Code of Conduct - Stats

• Complaints – 46– Against Members – 41– Against Non-members -  5

• Status– Resolved – 34– Partially Resolved -  4

(Complaint closed but either party unhappy)

– Procedurally Incorrect -  3– Deferred (dropped) -  3

(Complainant not contactable, or moved out of country)

– Open (new) -  2

• Appeals -  3

Events

• Participants– Elaine Zinn (Chair), Alan Levin, Ant Brooks, Jacqui Deale, Johan

Lubbe, Rob Hunter, Theo Kramer, Tinka Saunders, Peter Lockhart, Jacques Pietersen, William Stucke, Bretton Vine

• Purpose– to develop and execute ISPA events, including iWeek

• Activities– Planning and organising the annual iWeek conference– Planning and organising other ISPA events

• Budgetary requirements– Event costs

• Events held– Interception workshop (2 March 2006)– ECA workshop (15 August 2006)– Code of Conduct workshop (7 September 2006)– iWeek 2006 (4-7 September 2006)

Fair Competition

• Participants – Ant Brooks, Edwin Thompson, Lynne Orrock, Marc Furman (chair), Richard Heath,

Rob Hunter, others?

• Purpose– Ensure that ISPA makes optimal use of all available channels to promote fair

competition in the Internet access market

• Activities– Managing any existing or new complaints lodged with regulatory or competition

authorities – Working with legal advisors to determine a sound pro-competition strategy

• Budgetary requirements– Legal fees– (possible requirement for assistance from ISPA's regulatory advisors in drafting

other complaints)

• Issues– Telkom / BCX merger CC case– SAVA/ISPA CC case

Fair Competition - Report

• SAVA/ISPA Competition Commission Complaint– No change in status– Remains at High Court subject to jurisdictional and related disputes which

Telkom raised against the CC

• Telkom/BCX merger CC complaint (main focus)– Lodged end of 2005– Various follow-up meetings with CC since– CC has also taken various objections from parties other than ISPA– Commission currently investigating and considering the economic and

competition implications of the proposed merger– ISPA continues to supplement the complaint with additional evidence of

Telkom’s abuse of its dominance– ISPA believes it has a strong case for the imposition, at least, of several

restrictions on a post-merger Telkom which would serve the benefit the industry

– CC’s decision anticipated this year or early next after which matter passed to the Competition Tribunal

Finance

• Participants – Closed group selected by Management Committee

• Purpose– Develop budgets for ISPA activities

Membership

• Purpose– Maintain and grow ISPA's membership and keep members informed of

ISPA's activities

• Activities– Not identified yet

• Budgetary requirements– Not calculated yet

• Statistics– Membership increased from 95 to 119 (25%) since iWeek 2005.– Almost all new members in the small category– Growth of 25% better than 20042005 (12%) but less than 2003 2004

(37%)

Operators Liaison

• Purpose– Engage with Telkom (and other operators) to ensure that members are provided with fair

and reasonably priced services

• Activities– Identifying the responsible Telkom executive for ISP issues– Meeting regularly with the relevant Telkom executive to monitor issues raised by members– Assisting ISPA members in escalating Telkom-related problems to the relevant person at

Telkom

• Budgetary requirements– None

• Current– Letter sent to the CEO of Telkom requesting the details of the responsible executive and

the setting up of the initial meeting – no response yet.

• Future– Building relationship with the SNO– Building relationship with the Mobile Operators (e.g. Looking at common interests

regarding interception legislation)– Looking at the relationship with the City of Johannesburg and other councils

Partnerships

• Purpose

– Forge and maintain partnerships with other organisations. • Activities

– ?

• Budgetary requirements– ?

• Report– As the initial meeting for this working group has not yet been held, no

activities have been identified nor have budgetary requirements been calculated.

Public Relations

• Participants– Ant Brooks, Edwin Thompson, Elaine Zinn, Greg Massel (chair), Ivan Booth (Reliable

Sources), Marc Furman, Michael Silber, Richard Heath, Tanisha Ramshai (Reliable Sources), William Stucke

• Purpose– Manage ISPA's presence in the media

• Activities– Developing regular, relevant press releases on ISPA activities

– Monitoring current industry developments and perceptions, and responding accordingly

– Responding to queries from the media

– Ensuring that an archive of ISPA press articles is maintained on the web site

• Budgetary requirements– Reliable Sources retainer

– Occasional costs for photography for events

Public Relations – Press Releases

• 22.08.2006: Positive Aspects of ADSL Regulations overshadowed by fundamental flaws

• 20.07.2006: DoC Secures iWeek Sponsorship

• 03.07.2006: ISPA Adds Voice To Interception Objections

• 20.06.2006: iWeek Conference Boosts Exhibition Space

• 12.06.2006: Internet Solutions Chosen For JINX Hosting

• 06.06.2006: ISPA’s 10 Years Of Internet Activism

• 06.06.2006: ISPA 10th Birthday 6 June 2006

• 24.05.2006: ISPA Wants Fairer Access To ADSL To Offer Consumers Greater Choice

• 29.03.2006: TELKOM BID FOR BCX ANOTHER RAW DEAL FOR CONSUMERS

• 10.03.2006: FREE & OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE (FOSS) TO BOOST COMPUTER LITERACY AMONGST TEACHERS

• 02.02.2006: ISPA SCRAPS SOME EQUIVALENT LINE CHARGES, CALLS FOR JINX HOSTING PRPOPOSALS

• 13.12.2005: ISPA Lodges Complaint With Competition Commission

Regulatory Submissions

• Participants – Ant Brooks, Marlon Cohen, Jenny De Klerk, Laurie Fialkov, Richard Heath

(chair), Marc Furman, Lynne Orrock, Mike Silber

• Purpose– Ensure that ISPA provides relevant input into legislative and regulatory

processes

• Activities– Identifying legislative processes that require ISPA input– Drafting written submissions– Soliciting input from ISPA's members on draft submissions– Submitting written submissions timeously– Providing oral submissions where necessary– Preparing member advisories on key issues– Providing report-backs on the impact of ISPA's submissions

• Budgetary requirements– Remuneration of regulatory advisors

Teachers Training

• Purpose– Provide computer and Internet training to teachers

• Report– 2005 September vacation 90 teachers received training– 2006 Easter vacation, 92 teachers received training– 2006 June vacation 62 teachers received training– Since the inception of the initiative during December 2001 to date, 966

teachers have been successfully trained:-• Beginners courses – 791 teachers

• Intermediate – 175 teachers

– During the September 2006 vacation a further 60 teachers will be trained.