An assessment of self-regulation: the Wireless Applications Service Providers' code of conduct
Date
2011-11-24
Authors
Mokgoro, Itumeleng
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The Wireless Applications Service Providers Association (WASPA) is a self-regulatory body for the wireless application industry in South Africa – and employs its Code of Conduct as the primary instrument in regulating the industry. The purpose of this qualitative study is to evaluate how effective the Code has been in regulating the behaviour of the wireless applications service providers in the country. The findings from the research study suggest that the WASPA Code has more weaknesses than strengths. A significant finding is that WASPA is viewed as a legitimate regulator of the WASP industry – and its Code enjoys wide support from the industry. However, there are some questions around the organisation and the Code‟s credibility in a number of important areas. Some of the more important negative findings include, amongst others, the following: WASPA might have been captured by the established players in the industry; the WASPA Code seems to have insufficient focus on business-to-business aggregators; and the WASPA regulatory regime must cover the network operators‟ VAS services in order to ensure more meaningful industry
Description
Keywords
Wireless application industry, South Africa