Page 9 - EngineerIT April 2022

DSA is the only global organisation focused on promoting spectrum-sharing
innovation to get the most out of wireless resources. Its team is made up of worldwide
technology experts, making it the shared spectrum go-to organisation for regulators and
policy makers all over the world.
WAPA, established in 2006, is a non-profit trade association acting as a collective
voice for the wireless industry. Its primary objective is to promote the growth of the
wireless industry by facilitating self-regulation, promoting best practice and educating
both members and the market about new wireless technologies and business models.
WAPA offers its members regulatory advice, technical training, a code of conduct, a
forum for knowledge sharing and business enablement opportunities.
WAPA is positioned to be an interface between the government regulator (ICASA),
network operators, service providers, and consumers. It regularly makes submissions
and presentations to the government on regulations affecting the wireless industry.
Promoting entrepreneurships WAPA is tirelessly lobbying for more progressive and efficient spectrum management
During the trial, many of the hotspots in South Africa and is focusing on the possibilities of TVWS spectrum for interference-
were installed in spaza shops, creating free access.
additional income by selling airtime.
“We see this as a great opportunity For more information point your browser to www.wapa.org.za
to empower more people to become
hotspot hosts as another revenue
stream”, Colmer said. space systems and ICASA introduced them
to the Meraka Institute, knowing that the Multi-faceted project
The story of TVWS in SA required capability was available locally. consortium
South Africa has been a driving force The Cape Town trial was the
in TVWS since its early stages and culmination of this process, in which WAPA, representing 250 members, as
is the first country in Africa to have the Meraka Institute cooperated with well as Microsoft and Adaptrum, are
published a TVWS regulatory framework. Google and other partners to develop members of the Dynamic Spectrum
Encompassing an unconnected and demonstrate the TVWS technology. Alliance (DSA), a global association
population of over 20 million people The results of the trial were sufficiently
that develops policy for, and
in hard-to-reach terrain, SA is an ideal successful and it was cited by the USA’s
mechanism in, bands such as TVWS.
test location for a solution that scales regulator, the FCC, as proof that adjacent-
affordably. channel operations were feasible, contrary Project Isizwe is a South African
The September 2016 issue of IEEE to what had previously been thought. business. It has been operating for
Spectrum carried an article entitled In 2014, the Meraka Institute many years and has successfully
“Bridging Africa’s Broadband Divide”, conducted another trial in cooperation managed free Wi-Fi projects.
in which authors David Johnson and with Microsoft, the Department of Science Adaptrum is a Silicon Valley
Chomora Mikeka outlined trials in Cape and Technology, the University of Limpopo based company with TVWS
Town and Malawi. and Multisource. Other African trials have equipment, engineering training and
The trial in Cape Town broke new since been run in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, installation expertise for optimal
ground by using channels adjacent to Malawi, Namibia and Tanzania. deployment of the technical part of
those being used for live broadcasts, A CSIR Meraka Institute team the project.
something that ran contrary to practice developed a GLSD based on the Protocol The International Data
in most countries. Nevertheless, no to Access Space. The GLSD will be
Corporation (IDC), a market research
reported interference to existing managed by ICASA and was expected to
and analysis company, will provide
services resulted. The trial was mostly be available from 1 April 2021 but this
conducted by the Council for Scientific has not yet materialised. The CSIR has an executive paper and overall
and Industrial Research, using manual agreed to manage the secondary GLSD assessment of the technical and
analysis because the GLSD was not which is from where WSIPS that have the economic aspects of the TVWS
ready at the time. necessary licences have been allocated solution.
Since about 2010, the CSIR Meraka their channels. Microsoft’s Airband team
Institute had been working with ICASA, Using this open standard and a provided the underlying support on
Sentech and others, promoting the comprehensive database of existing TVWS policy, project management,
merits of TV White Space. The Meraka licensed transmitters, the GLSD is able technical architecture capabilities and
Institute developed a sensing technology to accurately forecast the presence of
services on cloud-based CRM, billing
demonstrator to show the feasibility commercial signals at specific locations,
systems, education solutions, and on
of the approach. In 2011, Google thereby avoiding much of the potential for
approached ICASA about implementing interference. n the spectrum data base.

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