Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko has reiterated calls for infrastructure sharing among telecoms operators in South Africa.
He said operators need to be smart in how they deploy infrastructure and must avoid duplication.
Maseko made the comments this morning at the inaugural roundtable for chief executives of fixed-line operators in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), in Sandton.
The roundtable discussion is a gathering of CEOs and SADC ministers to discuss ICT matters in the region.
"Infrastructure-based competition is not affordable and it is a significant barrier to entry," Maseko stated.
"If we are to overcome the access deficit in light of the mobile revolution, South Africa needs to see wholesale access and active sharing of radio access network. This can't be achieved by fixed-line players alone; mobile players have to really come on board."
According to Maseko, in the last 20 years, international policy regulation has been in favour of mobile operators, which has resulted in mobile penetration overtaking fixed-line.
However, the time has come for fixed-line operators to awaken and reclaim their rightful place to democratise broadband, he said.
Also attending the roundtable discussion is telecommunications and postal services minister Siyabonga Cwele, who agreed infrastructure competition is inhibitive for broadband deployment in the country.
"We must really learn to share the capacities we have in our infrastructure," he said.
South Africa's broadband penetration only reached 13.64% in 2014, Analysys Mason research reveals.
Access for all
Maseko commented that the bad news for the African continent is that the digital divide is alive and well.
For 2015, it has been estimated that the average number of households with Internet access in Africa is only 10.7%, which is vastly lower than Europe, estimated to be at 80%, said Maseko.
"Access is at the heart of the divide. This is true not only for South Africa but for SADC and the continent as a whole.
"The unconnected stand to gain massively from being brought into the fold."
He further noted government's National Development Plan, where broadband access is like water and electricity, will remain out of reach, unless telcos bridge the digital divide.
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