President Thabo Mbeki has criticised as "unacceptable" the fact that telecommunications rates in SA are 10 times higher than those in developed countries.
He made these comments during his State of the Nation address at the opening of Parliament in Cape Town today.
The speech, which touched on many issues, had as a central theme the alleviation of poverty and the modernisation of the country`s government structures and infrastructure.
"Bold steps have been taken to further liberalise the telecommunications industry. We believe that the unacceptable situation in which some of our fixed-line rates are 10 times those of developed countries will soon become a thing of the past," he said.
Mbeki also commented on the long-awaited establishment of the second national operator (SNO), which should eventually become the main rival to the incumbent telecommunications operator Telkom.
"We also hope that the delays in setting up the SNO, arising from legal processes which are beyond government`s control, will be resolved in due course, and as soon as possible," he said.
The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has already told ITWeb that the SNO should be licensed by June.
Later in his speech, Mbeki touched on e-government initiatives that are part of the overall strategy of modernising and bringing the various levels of government administration closer to the ordinary person.
"The institution of izimbizo is growing, with a larger number of events involving all spheres of government, better follow-up and greater depth in terms of house-to-house visits. We have launched the Batho Pele Gateway [online portal] to afford citizens the platform to access information and, later, services by electronic means," he said.
Mbeki added that over 65 multi-purpose IT community centres have been launched to date, and by the second half of this year, each district and metropolitan council will have its own centre.
"Plans have been approved for the construction of hundreds more such centres, so that by the end of the decade, each municipality would have a one-stop government hub," he said.
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