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Bad vibrations, low expectations for SONA

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 09 Feb 2015
Expectations in the ICT sector are running low ahead of president Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address on Thursday.
Expectations in the ICT sector are running low ahead of president Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address on Thursday.

SA's ICT sector is likely to be left disappointed by president Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday, as a long list of troubling issues will see ICT kicked to the curb again this year.

This is the general expectation from an industry that has, for the past few years, been side-lined in favour of other pressing socio-economic issues.

Last year, Zuma paid scant attention to ICT in SONA. While the president did mention that the 37 000km of fibre-optic cable that had been laid by the private and public sectors in the preceding five years would be "significantly expanded in the years ahead", he provided no concrete details as to how this would be done.

The year before, he referred briefly to ICT, saying only that SA's broadband network would be expanded in a bid to reach universal penetration by 2020. This year, Zuma has several issues to talk to, as well as the added threats of disruption from Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema to contend with.

Ironic ignorance

The irony of this lack of regard, says Ovum analyst Richard Hurst, is that SA needs to transform its economy and move away from being a commodity-based to an information-based economy - "and the real focus needed and enabler of this will be in the ICT sector".

Hurst says there needs to be "serious direction and meaningful participation" from government in terms of infrastructure development as well as the need to build intellectual property capacity in technical and technology-based skills such as maths and science. "In the end, the issue at hand is the ICT empowerment of the electorate."

ICT expert Adrian Schofield has, on a number of occasions, expressed concern that government does not place sufficient importance on the contribution of the ICT sector to growth and development. "That we do have as much coverage of mobile and broadband networks is a tribute to the investment of the private sector in spite of government policy and regulation, rather than because of it.

Some of the dominant issues emerging from government's call for people to make suggestions via social media include:

1. Small, medium and micro enterprises development
2. Education
3. Social development
4. Crime and drugs
5. Corruption
6. Housing
7. Better salaries for police, teachers and mine workers
8. Skills development
9. Electricity or energy crisis
10. Xenophobia, homophobia and the rise of racism
11. Sustainable employment
12. Protection of rhinos
13. Land ownership
14. Legalisation of marijuana
15. Water shortages
16. Health and the state of public hospitals
17. Road deaths
18. E-tolls
19. Littering
20. SA's role in peacekeeping on the continent

"I do not expect SONA to place any greater emphasis on ICTs in 2015, although there may be mention of the beginnings of the transition to DTT [digital terrestrial TV] (without mention of the accumulated delays). There will be further mention of the broadband policy (without mention that the SA Connect target has moved out to 2030), and it is likely there will be mention of the progress towards the National Integrated ICT Policy (without mention of the slow pace of that progress)."

Industry wish list

Digital migration, high-demand spectrum allocation, a burdened and under-resourced regulator, the delivery of high-speed broadband, and a newly split ICT ministry are all issues industry watchers want to see tackled.

If the social media response to the presidency's invitation to make suggestions on issues that are important for South Africans is anything to go by, the overall wish list is vastly longer. On top of that, government will have its own list of priorities and agenda it wishes to publicise.

Independent telecoms researcher Samantha Perry says, although industry's wish list is unlikely to be realised, it would like to see government address the confusion that has lingered since the creation of two disparate ICT departments, including the uncertainty surrounding the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA).

"The confusion around ICASA, its 'independence', needs to be cleared up so that [the body] can go and do what it needs to - especially with regard to high-demand spectrum allocation. Right now, the regulator is under-resourced and stuck between pillar and post."

For the consumer, says Perry, cheaper bandwidth and call costs remain at the top of the list. "If ICASA could do its job, we would probably get this, but it isn't."

World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says, sadly, the industry does not expect too much from the SONA. "We haven't seen any long-term commitment to ICT from government. It has been a case of one step forward, two steps back for some time and so there is no reference to speak of in the SONA."

What is happening on the ICT front is regardless of government, he says, rather than a reflection of government success. "What we want to see is a clear and urgent roadmap for DTT, a clear and urgent commitment to the licensing and rollout of high-speed broadband, and a far greater urgency in making ICT available to all."

Goldstuck says what everyone would really like, is unlikely to happen - a cabinet reshuffle "to repair the damage done to communications in the last year".

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