Convergence: SA cannot afford to fail again

By Rodney Weidemann for Telkom
Johannesburg, 28 Jan 2005

True convergence requires clear regulations, a technology-neutral environment, self-regulation by players, a consultative and public process, and a fair and balanced approach by the regulator, since it cannot be protective of the incumbent.

This is the view of Nozicelo Ngcobo, senior specialist for strategy, research and comparative analysis at Telkom, who was speaking about policy and regulation in the convergence era at this week`s African Telecommunications Summit in Sandton.

"One of the key issues with convergence is that there is no universal definition of what it is, although in SA we tend to consider it to be the convergence of technology, services and regulations, driven by market factors, customer needs, new technologies and a positive regulatory environment."

She says people point to the managed liberalisation of the industry as being another driver for convergence.

"Actually, managed liberalisation has been going on for some time already, it`s just that the recent announcements have thrown some petrol on the fire and accelerated it," she says.

Ngcobo believes convergence is raising a dizzying array of regulatory and legislative issues that policy-makers will soon have to address.

"Many of the failures of the past 10 years have been at a policy level, but this is understandable, because it has been a learning curve for our new democracy, but when it comes to convergence, we simply cannot afford to fail again.

"The key regulatory consideration is to narrow the digital divide, and since there is a direct link between convergence and competition, this can certainly have a positive impact on the digital divide," she says.

According to Ngcobo, infrastructure roll-out is also a key consideration, but it is vitally important that the content provided over that infrastructure is accessible and relevant to those on the wrong side of the digital divide.

"Ultimately, while ICT represents a great opportunity for economic development and poverty alleviation, convergence must still offer real benefits to the man in the street.

"It is also wrong to draw unrealistic comparisons between the local market and a highly developed region like South Korea. It is critical that SA develops a South African approach to convergence - we need to ask the question: what works for us?"