https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / News / South African News RSS ← Back
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Embed Video

SA behind other African countries in broadband access

SA behind other African countries in broadband access
Photo by Bloomberg

2nd September 2014

By: Natasha Odendaal
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

Despite being Africa’s economic powerhouse, South Africa has fallen behind in terms of the number of people per 100 that have access to fixed and mobile broadband, Saab Grintek Technologies CTO Suraj Ramlall said on Tuesday.

Broadband in South Africa was generally concentrated in urban areas and, while many South Africans had Internet access in some form or another, there was no ubiquitous access to high-speed broadband.

Advertisement

“It is a tragedy,” he told delegates at the Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference, in Port Elizabeth.

Ramlall highlighted that only 2.2 South Africans out of every 100 had access to fixed broadband, with Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt reporting larger ratios.

Advertisement

In terms of mobile broadband, only 26 out of 100 South Africans had access, a lower figure than in Ghana, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Namibia.

Reiterating the benefits of broadband access for an economy, he pointed out that a 10% rise in broadband penetration would see South Africa’s gross domestic product growth, currently under 3%, become comparable to that of Africa’s growth of over 5%.

The leveraging of satellite technology could cost-effectively support the roll-out of ever-present connectivity.

The “unrealistic” high cost of fibre and copper technologies made these difficult to roll out, particularly into rural areas, where it was deemed unviable.

Wireless technologies, such as third-generation and long-term evolution, were more cost effective and ubiquitous; however, satellite technology was immediately available and offered a cost-effective solution to satisfy consumer demand.

“Satellite is a fit,” Ramlall said, noting that the KA Band covered South Africa seamlessly, with high throughput and abundant capacity, and was cost-effective and easy to install.

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now