The Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC) is an annual event hosted by Telkom. It serves as a vital platform for researchers in the telecommunications field to present their work, interact with peers, and gain insights from industry and international experts. The conference, organised by Telkom and Openserve R&D team, in collaboration with academics from Telkom Centers of Excellence (CoE), facilitates the exchange of ideas and fosters innovation in the telecommunications sector.

Held under the theme ‘Africa's Ascent: Enabling Sustainability Through Tech and AI’, SATNAC 2025 is scheduled to take place at the Arabella Hotel, Golf & Spa, Kleinmond, Hermanus, Western Cape, South Africa, from Sunday, November 30, 2025, to Wednesday, December 3, 2025. The conference agenda will  include keynote speeches, paper presentations, panel discussions, and networking opportunities, all aimed at advancing research and development in telecommunication networks and applications.

Topics:

SATNAC 2025 will have two tracks -  Full Papers, and Work-In-Progress Short Papers - focusing on Computer Science and Electronic and Electrical Engineering research, with various topics considered for both tracks, including, but not limited to:

Wireless Communications and Next-Generation Technologies:

• Mobile technologies (LTE, LTE-A, 5G, New Radio), 5G and beyond
• Low Power Wide Area Networking, Narrowband IoT
• Next Generation Wi-Fi, Next Generation MIMO and Massive MIMO, Cognitive Radio, Sensor Networks, Open RAN and Cloud RAN

Artificial Intelligence and Data-Driven Applications:

• Natural Language Processing (NLP), Speech Recognition, African Languages, Data Generation and Curation 
• Pattern Recognition, Computer Vision, Extended Reality, Metaverse
• IoT applications, Smart Cities, Advanced Sensing, Virtual Collaboration

Network Operations and Management:

• AI and Automation for Network Optimization
• Programmable Networks, SDN and NFV
• Network Planning and Resource Management

Sustainability and Social Impact:

• Community Networks, Rural Connectivity, Affordable Connectivity, Digital Inclusion, Accessible Technologies
• Smart Grid and Alternative Energy
• Case studies on technology for social impact and community development, particularly in underserved regions

Security, Privacy, and Trust:

• Network Security, Secure Network Architectures, Cybersecurity challenges
• Information Privacy, Cryptography, Blockchain
• Intersection of AI and cybersecurity, e.g., AI-driven threat detection and response mechanisms, Trustworthy AI

Core Network Technologies and Architecture:

• Core IP Networks, EPC, Multi-tenancy and Network Slicing
• Backhaul and Fronthaul Networking
• Routing and Congestion

Data Centers, Cloud and Edge Computing:

• Cloud Computing, Scalability and Cloud Elasticity, Adoption and Migration
• High-Performance Computing, Edge Computing, Fog Computing
• Green Data Centers: energy-efficiency and renewable energy integration

Network Standards and Regulatory:

• Radio Spectrum Management
• Coexistence in Unlicensed and Shared Spectrum Bands
• ITU, ETSI, IEEE, 3GPP

Submission Guidelines:

Authors are invited to submit full papers (10 pages maximum, single-spaced, two-column, standard IEEE conference format) or work-in-progress papers (2 - 3 pages, single-spaced, two-column). Please use the templates here: https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html  

All papers will undergo double-blind peer review. Author names and affiliations must be removed from all submissions for the review process.

Paper submission will be done via EasyChair:  https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=satnac2025.

Evaluation Criteria:

Submitted papers will be evaluated based on:

• originality of contribution;
• relevance to the conference;
• technical/scientific merit; and
• presentation and clarity

Important Dates:

Call for papers: 18 August 2025

Paper submission deadline: 14 September 2025

Work-in-progress deadline: 14 September 2025

Review Notification: 14 October 2025

Camera-ready paper submission: 30 October 2025

Registration:  14 October 2025  -  30 October 2025

Conference dates:  30 Nov - 3 December 2025

Contact Information:

For more details or inquiries, please contact the program chairs at satnac@telkom.co.za.

For further information, please visit the conference website - https://satnac.org.za/