Dynamic Spectrum Alliance announces South African communications regulator as co-host for the 2017 Global Summit and welcomes 11 new members

Cape Town, South Africa, 20 October 2016: The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) is pleased to announce that its 2017 Global Summit will be co-hosted by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the South African national spectrum regulator, in Cape Town on May 9-11, 2017. Following on from 2016’s successful summit in Bogota, Colombia, the world’s largest and most prestigious conference on wireless spectrum sharing is now heading to South Africa. The announcement comes as the Alliance welcomes 11 new members from all over the world.

The 2017 Global Summit will build on the success from 2016 and be supported by 11 new members, spanning four major continents – Africa, Asia, Europe and North America – and including public benefit companies, multinationals, research institutions, and Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The new members include; Telecast Technology Corp., China; Wi-Fi Interactive Network, the Philippines; Nominet, United Kingdom; M-KOPA, Kenya; Ekovolt, Nigeria; C3 Limited, Malawi; Project Isizwe, South Africa; AirJaldi Networks, India; and Marvell Semiconductors, Axiom Technologies and the IEEE, all from the United States of America.

Co-host ICASA will play a significant role at the Global Summit as ICASA recently published a Discussion Paper on the Framework for Dynamic and Opportunistic Spectrum Management for consultation. This paper discusses a proposal to authorize license-exempt access to unused TV channels, also known as television white spaces (TVWS).

Several of the new members are focused on opening up more spectrum sharing opportunities across the globe and this will be a key theme in the 2017 Global Summit in South Africa. In the continent of Africa, new member Ekovolt, a wireless broadband and technology services provider, is working to provide affordable, accessible, reliable broadband and technology solutions that cater to homes and businesses in Nigeria. Furthermore, C3 Limited is currently building a wireless network across Malawi spanning all 28 districts and Project Isizwe aims to bring the Internet to people across South Africa by facilitating the rollout of free Wi-Fi for public spaces in low-income communities.

“In 2013, the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance was chartered to work with policy makers and regulators around the world on laws and regulations designed to promote and reward more efficient spectrum utilization,” said Paul Garnett, the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance’s Chairman of the Board and Director of Affordable Access at Microsoft. “The spectrum sharing technologies and policies that the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance began promoting almost four years ago are now central to discussions about current and future spectrum access and emerging 5G scenarios. The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance‘s annual Summit is the premier event for policy makers and regulators to share best practices, learn about the latest spectrum sharing policies, and participate in discussions on how to maximize social and economic impact. To that end, the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance is delighted to be partnering with ICASA to host the 2017 Global Summit in Cape Town, South Africa.  We look forward to welcoming policy makers, regulators, academia, public and private sector representatives, and other guests in Cape Town next May.”