South Africa is damaging its opportunities and economic prospects by failing to see the importance of advancing broadband.
So says Jacques du Toit, CEO of Vox Telecom, who was commenting on the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) global information technology report, which ranked SA 70th out of 114 countries.
The rankings are determined by a country's regulatory and business environments, and the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and its effect on the economy and society, among other factors.
According to the WEF, countries using digital technology grew faster and created more jobs, adding that good broadband Internet access contributed between 0.25% and 1.4% to economic growth in a country.
It also notes that even though SA improved ICT infrastructure and bandwidth during the past year, this was mostly due to the private sector.
Du Toit laments the fact that, not too long ago, SA ranked fourth or fifth. He believes the country occupies such a low position because, apart from the reduction in broadband pricing, network operators have not done much in terms of giving more people access to broadband.
He adds that there are no more DSL exchanges; the Independent Communications Authority of SA has not finalised local loop unbundling; and there are still certain GSM base stations that provide only Edge to subscribers.
To improve SA's standing, more people need access to fibre, says Du Toit. Secondly, mobile operators need to consolidate their efforts in building network infrastructure, he adds.
"Instead of each building their own network, they must combine capex expenditure. This will allow for larger scale and more of the base station connected via fibre that will in turn ensure LTE/4G is available.
In the interim, World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck believes the Communications Department's National Broadband Policy plan will benefit the telecommunications industry tremendously.
The department has called on the public to have a hand in shaping the development of SA's National Broadband Policy, with the goal of reaching government's vision of giving every citizen access to broadband services by 2020.
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