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Govt to address capacity concerns

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Port Elizabeth, 01 Sept 2014
Siyabonga Cwele, minister of telecommunications and postal services, says SA stands on the threshold of a digital revolution that may never again be seen.
Siyabonga Cwele, minister of telecommunications and postal services, says SA stands on the threshold of a digital revolution that may never again be seen.

Government acknowledges the urgency and need to address connectivity capacity issues and is working with various stakeholders to come up with a short- to medium-term solution.

This is according to minister of telecommunications and postal services, Siyabonga Cwele, who addressed industry players at the 17th annual Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC) in Port Elizabeth this morning.

Cwele said SA stands on the threshold of a digital revolution that may never again be seen, and government and business have the opportunity to be the architects of the country - an opportunity that must be grabbed with both hands if SA is to move forward.

The enabler for the type of transformation SA needs, said Cwele, is ubiquitous broadband, which is set to be driven - and has already had its wheels set in motion - by the broadband policy adopted by government in December last year, SA Connect.

"Through SA Connect, [the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services] will coordinate the rollout of broadband services across SA to ensure 100% broadband access by 2020."

This comes as the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) seeks, by 7 October, comment on its Draft International Mobile Telephony (IMT) Roadmap, published on Friday. The roadmap, which seeks to "ensure universal availability of broadband services as well as a vibrant and competitive telecommunications industry and promote investments," could result in some licensees being migrated around IMT bands.

It notes a key driver for deployment of IMT bands is the need to make sure mobile broadband plays its role in meeting targets set out in SA Connect. Part of the document deals with developing the digital dividend bands, and potentially the 450-470MHz band, to provide universal service.

Digital divide

The minister acknowledged this morning that the country's lagging spectrum constraints need to be addressed, and sooner rather than later, if SA's digital divide is to be bridged and to enable industry players to roll out broadband and achieve the critical mass needed to move the South African economy forward. "To address the divide, government is considering a range of demand side and supply side interventions."

On the supply side, said Cwele, support for public and private investment, the expansion of networks and increased competition were key. This is where spectrum allocation came in, he added.

"To complement the supply chain, government is determined to address the demand side, seeking interventions in terms of skills development promotion so people can get the maximum benefit from the broadband services made available. These interventions will focus on increasing affordability of devices and services."

Together with ICASA, government is working to modernise laws and create certainty to the end of addressing capacity issues in the short- to medium-term, said Cwele. "We expect to have a white paper on our integrated ICT policy by the end of March next year."

The latest white paper, set in motion under former communications minister Yunus Carrim at the beginning of the year, will become the foundation on which final policy is based. The former telecommunications department, the Department of Communications, described it as "government's formal policy position on key issues relating to ICT".

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