Another 20 million South Africans will be able to connect to the Internet, as subsidised decoders for the poorest of the poor will have built-in USB or network access points.
The Department of Communications' decision that subsidised set-top boxes - needed for digital TV migration - must have return paths will put modems in five million homes, potentially expanding the Internet's reach to over 50% of South Africans.
As a result, at least 20 million more people will be able to plug in an Internet connection, opening up opportunities for entrepreneurs to target a new market, and expansion of e-government e-services.
Government has set itself the ambitious target of reaching 100% broadband penetration by 2020, which will require the telecoms sector to invest about R100 billion. Currently, only about six million South Africans have access to the Internet, according to World Wide Worx.
A must-have
SA is moving to digital television using the European DVB-T2 standard and switch on is expected to take place this September, with turn off within two years of that date. SA's move to digital TV is expected to create thousands of jobs and free up spectrum for more broadband to be rolled out.
About 10 million households will need set-top boxes to convert the new signal for viewing on older televisions. The state has earmarked R2.45 billion to subsidise 70% of the cost of the boxes, for as many as five million South African households.
The South African Communications Forum (SACF), which represents the bulk of companies in the ICT sector, has welcomed communications minister Dina Pule's announcement yesterday that subsidised boxes would include a “return path”, which enables Internet access.
Fast-tracking
SACF CEO Loren Braithwaite-Kabosha says “this is a game changer” as it gives the bottom of the pyramid an Internet access platform that will open up opportunities such as e-government services and a new target market for entrepreneurs.
The association has called for the inclusion of a return path, which would be the “single biggest opportunity to increase Internet penetration in SA in the next five years”.
The forum has pointed out that such a solution would do away with the need for homes to buy costly PCs to connect to the Web. “Inclusion of Internet access for the subsidised set-top box is the best opportunity to bridge the digital divide... This decision means that SA, which had been lagging in Internet penetration behind the rest of the continent, will move swiftly ahead in its goals to achieve universal access and ICT competitiveness.”
Braithwaite-Kabosha says subsidised boxes will have to either include a network port or a USB slot. While the solution is not elegant, as remotes will initially function as keyboards and the television as a screen, it gives South Africans with no access to the Internet a keyhole into the Web, she notes.
Yesterday, Pule's digital television advisor Roy Kruger said return path hardware is relatively cheap and simple to install, and will not push up the cost of decoders drastically.
Deeper reach
In its 2011 survey of South African households, Statistics SA found that just 9.8% of local homes had Internet access. Conservatively, providing five million more homes with a modem can expand this reach to more than 50% of the population, says Braithwaite-Kabosha.
Data prices have been coming down and demand from an additional five million access points could drive economies of scale, trimming the cost further, comments Braithwaite-Kabosha. Broadband prices are expected to drop by a fifth this year as operators roll out promotions.
The next challenge industry and government will face is to make sure broadband is rolled out as swiftly as possible in rural areas to expand accessibility, she adds.
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