Almost 400 firms pledge to protect mobile consumers in South Africa
The membership of South Africa's Wireless Application Service Providers' Association (WASPA) recently passed the 370 mark, 12 years after it was first incorporated. Formed to represent and self-regulate the then fledgling wireless content and applications industry, WASPA continues to ensure proper consumer protection in an ever-changing technological landscape.
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“That WASPA and the mobile networks have managed to bring on board over 370 individual wireless firms committed to interacting fairly and transparently with South Africa’s 35 million cellular users is a great achievement,” said WASPA GM, Ilonka Badenhorst.
The association’s remit includes a strong consumer protection element. Each member is expected to subscribe to and uphold the provisions of the WASPA Code of Conduct.
Daily monitoring of the mass media for instances where members have not advertised their mobile services in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Conduct was and continues to be central to demonstrating that WASPA can effectively regulate its members.
“The fact that a 12 year-old industry association is still attracting new members at double-digit rates annually means the country’s WASPs see value in the association’s performance.
Some of the association’s achievements include the double opt-in measures put in place by the mobile networks, stronger regulation of the marketplace through regular fine-tuning of the WASPA Code of Conduct and proactive monitoring by its media monitor to remove non-compliant member campaigns from the marketplace before consumers flag potential issues.
A non-profit organisation, WASPA was founded on 26 August 2004 in South Africa with the full support of the three South African network operators: Cell C, MTN and Vodacom. Fostering consumer confidence in the WASP industry through responsible self-regulation is a key focus of the Association. For more information, go to www.waspa.org.za.
