South Africa should have adopted a coherent convergence policy by the end of next year, with the market changes that will be introduced being felt by 2005.
This will be the final phase of a process that begins with the Department of Communications` convergence colloquium, which takes place on 15 and 16 July at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton.
Following the colloquium, it is expected that a convergence bill will be prepared and tabled in Parliament before the end of the current session. Parliamentary debate should take place in late 2003 and early 2004, with changes also being made to the regulatory regime sometime in 2004.
According to a presentation on the department`s Web site, written by director-general Andile Ngcaba, driving convergence will lead to numerous economic and social benefits, but there are many challenges as well.
Ngcaba says economic benefits will include lower capital expenditure, greater choice, range and quality of service for consumers, better broadband access for historically disadvantaged communities, and efficient and effective use of existing infrastructure.
"Social benefits will be issues such as improved government service delivery, greater opportunities for entrepreneurship and economic development, job creation and empowerment of small, medium and micro enterprises and local content development," he says.
"Of course, there are also a number of challenges to overcome, such as introducing new classes of licences to cover broadcasting, telecoms and IT, lack of broadband in terms of speed and capacity, and the regulation of competition and interconnection."
He says these are only some of the challenges that will be discussed at the colloquium. Others include bridging the digital divide, high demand for infrastructure and info-structure, efficiency and effectiveness of resource allocation and the management of privacy and security.
"There are many serious questions we have to ask ourselves, such as can we wait five or 10 years to develop new policy on convergence? What is the cost of the delay? And what will be the effects of not keeping abreast of change?
"We must not fall behind in this regard, as it will only increase the digital divide and the country will become marginalised globally," says Ngcaba.
"We have invited all relevant stakeholders to the colloquium because the outcome of the conference will inform both the policy and also the processes that should be embarked upon to facilitate the integration of telecoms, IT and broadcasting."
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