You can apply for ISPA membership here. However before you do so, please ensure that you have read the constitution and the membership application guidelines which explain the basic requirements for membership, the categories and fee structure.
Once you have completed and submitted the membership form to the ISPA Secretariat, the application will be subjected to a cursory inspection to ensure that the basic requirements are met.
Thereafter you will be notified that you have been placed in a provisional category and requested to do the following:
During this period, you will not be billed but will receive limited information from ISPA. We will however make every effort to assist you in becoming compliant.
ISPA is a recognised industry representative body in terms of Section 71 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 and compliance is therefore mandatory.
After 30-days have passed, your application will be sent to ISPA’s Membership working group and either accepted or declined, depending on your level of compliance. Thereafter the application will be sent to the ISPA management committee for ratification. The final stage of the approval process takes approximately 5 – 6 working days.
If you would like to apply for a connection to one of ISPA’s Internet exchanges, but you do not want to become an ISPA member please use the non-member application form instead.
There are five categories of ISPA membership:
Large, medium and small are all voting membership categories, while affiliate and honorary are special non-voting categories.
In order to qualify as a large, medium or small member, you must hold an ECS or ECNS licence, and/or be in the business of providing Internet access services.
Internet services include, but are not necessarily limited to:
Applicants are free to determine their own membership category. The category of ISPA membership determines what level of access each member gains to ISPA’s Internet exchanges. Please refer to ISPA’s INX policies for more information.
The affiliate membership category allows persons and organisations in related fields to participate in ISPA’s activities, and to gain the protections offered by virtue of ISPA’s recognition as an Industry Representative Body (IRB).
In addition, this membership category is appropriate for educational institutions (such as universities) who do not provide Internet access services to the public, but who do provide Internet access to closed user-groups.
Fees for Affiliate members are the same as for Small members, but affiliates are non-voting members of ISPA. Affiliate members are still required to comply with the Code of Conduct, and are also entitled to connect to ISPA’s Internet exchanges as if they were Small members.
The types of organisations that this category includes:
Honorary membership includes educational institutions, schools and non-profit organisations. The ISPA management committee bestows membership upon a selected body. No fees or voting rights apply.
Organisations situated in the southern African region may join ISPA as Large, Medium, Small or Affiliate members, and gain the same benefits as South African members of ISPA, including access to the Internet exchanges. However, international members do not qualify for voting rights. The same membership fees apply as for other ISPA members of the same category.
| Membership Category | Fees (effective 1 August 2009) |
|---|---|
| Large (monthly) | R7,500.00 + R1050.00 VAT |
| Medium (monthly) | R2,000.00 + R280.00 VAT |
| Small/Affiliate (monthly) | R500.00 + R70.00 VAT |
| Small/Affiliate (annually) | R5,000.00 + R700.00 VAT |
| Honorary (monthly) | R 0.00 |
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the Secretariat at: queries@ispa.org.za or on 010 226 9516.
In terms of ISPA’s Code of Conduct, new members of ISPA have 30 days from the date of acceptance of their membership application to become compliant with the ISPA Code of Conduct.
ISPA provides an online wizard to assist with this process, but prospective members must please note that several of the compliance requirements involve making documents (privacy policy, acceptable use policy, etc.) available on the member’s web site.
Thus, ISPA requires that organisations applying for membership must have a functioning web site when they submit their application for membership.
There are five categories of ISPA membership:
Large, medium and small are all voting membership categories, while affiliate and honorary are special non-voting categories.
In order to qualify as a large, medium or small member, you must hold an ECS or ECNS licence, and/or be in the business of providing Internet access services.
Internet services include, but are not necessarily limited to:
Determination of membership categories
Applicants are free to determine their own membership category. ISPA provides the following suggested guidelines:
Affiliate membership
The affiliate membership category allows persons and organisations in related fields to participate in ISPAs activities. Fees for this category of membership are the same as for the small member classification, but affiliates are non-voting and are not eligible for connectivity to the ISPA exchange.
The types of companies that this category includes:
Honorary membership
Honorary membership includes educational institutions, schools and non-profit organisations. The ISPA management committee bestows membership upon a selected body. No fees or voting rights apply.
International membership
Organisations situated in the southern African region may join the association and determine their own membership category. In addition to the benefits offered, being the same as those provided to all ISPAs members, international participants are also permitted to connect to the interconnection points. International members do not however qualify for voting rights. Fees will depend on the category selected and are no different to local subscriptions.
Membership fees
| Category | Fees (inclusive of VAT, effective 1 April 2008) |
| Large | R7 638.00 per month |
| Medium | R1 938.00 per month |
| Small | R 456.00 per month (or R4 560.00 per annum) |
| Affiliate | R 456.00 per month (or R4 560.00 per annum) |
| Honorary | R 0.00 |
Important to note:
In terms of ISPAs Code of Conduct, there is a requirement for links to be implemented from the ISPs web site to the ISPAs site and Code. Thus a functioning web site is a prerequisite for new members. Applications should not be submitted until such as time as this obligation has been realised.