SA is reaping the benefits of increased international bandwidth capacity, says deputy communications minister Dina Pule.
Speaking at the Annual Arab International Telecom Development Summit, in Lebanon this week, she explained that additional undersea fibre cables hitting African shores had significantly changed the local Internet landscape.
She said SA is also beginning to witness a decrease in the price of telecoms services, brought on by the recent price war between Internet service providers.
“The undersea fibre-optic cables and inland broadband infrastructure network constructions driven both by private enterprises and government initiatives are clear evidence of such commitment to work for the development of Africa.”
Pule said that, as other undersea fibre-optic cables, such as the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System, The East African Marine System and the West African Cable System, come on stream, the momentum can only accelerate into full-scale ICT connectivity on the African continent.
She said the Department of Communications (DOC) is committed to supporting the increased roll-out of access to the Internet across SA.
“The government's broadband policy, which is driven by the DOC, demonstrates a clear intent to grow the sector more aggressively and expand the market to areas where access is limited or not prevalent at all,” she added.
The deputy minister said the broadband access push in SA cannot be done by government alone, and the DOC plans to gather the expertise of the private sector to make it possible.
She invited members of the Arab states to visit SA to see the opportunities that are available in the ICT sector. “I would like to invite you to continue to put Africa on your investment radar screen, because Africa has the growth potential for the ICT sector.”
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