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DTPS allocates R200m for first phase broadband roll-out

DTPS allocates R200m for first phase broadband roll-out

Telecommunications and Postal Services Deputy Minister Professor Hlengiwe Mkhize discussed the focus points of the Department post Budget

Photo by Reuters

22nd May 2015

By: Natasha Odendaal

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) has set aside R200-million of its R1.4-billion budget this year to kickstart the first phase of the South Africa (SA) Connect national broadband strategy.

Over the next three years, the department aimed to connect all government institutions in eight rural districts to scalable broadband infrastructure.

The DTPS would also finalise by July the business case and funding plan for Phase 2 of broadband roll-out for the rest of the country to be implemented from 2016 until 2020, Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Dr Siyabonga Cwele said on Thursday.

Cwele again defended the department’s decision to designate partially State-owned Telkom as the lead agency in the broadband roll-out, pointing to the telecommunication giant’s significant investments into an extensive fibre network that now accounted for 86% of the existing 170 000 km of the national fibre network.

“It is worth noting that Telkom, on its own, has committed most of its R5-billion capital budget towards reaching more areas and to upgrade the technology as their contribution to the implementation of SA Connect,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Telecommunications and Postal Services Deputy Minister Professor Hlengiwe Mkhize said that the national broadband strategy was in line with the International Telecommunications Union-led Broadband Commission’s objectives, which had clear targets for making broadband policy universal and for boosting affordability and broadband uptake.

“The poor are not just deprived of basic resources, they lack access to information that is vital to their lives and livelihoods, [including] information about market prices for the goods they produce, about health, about the structure and services of public institutions and about their rights. They lack access to knowledge, education and skills development, [as well as] information about income-earning opportunities, that could improve their livelihoods,” she pointed out.

“Hence, the department has prioritised access and the use of information and communications technology (ICTs) as a basic necessity for survival, inclusive service delivery, individual self-respect and development.”

The DTPS needed to ensure citizens were able to access government services through “effective ICT infrastructure” and digital inclusion as the broadband project and related policy implementation progressed, Mkhize added during her Budget Vote speech.

“We have set out plans for the implementation of digital opportunities programmes in the National Health Insurance pilot sites to ensure that residents in these areas are able to benefit from the roll-out of broadband infrastructure,” she said.

This came as international rankings, such as the World Economic Forum 2015 Report, showed South Africa’s ICT sector ratings had declined.

“Our ranking on general state of ICT readiness remains very low at position 102, this is because of the result of the poor quality of ICT-related infrastructure which is ranked at position 85, and notably the limited international Internet bandwidth where we are ranked at 128 position,” she said.

Further, the cost of ICT’s in South Africa was deemed too high with the nation ranking poorly at 107 out of 143 countries.

In addition, Mkhize said government ICT use lagged with rankings reaching 105 out of 143 countries, and recording “very low marks” at 82 for online services provided to the population, highlighting government’s weakness in e-government services.

“Overall, this is an indication that the potential of ICTs has not been fully unlocked.

“The ICT social impacts have not yet fully materialised, and the government will need to significantly improve access to basic e-services, where the country is ranked at 101, or further facilitate citizens’ e-participation, which is currently ranked at 88 position,” she said.

The Democratic Alliance Telecommunications and Postal Services shadow minister Marian Shinn slammed the department for the low ranking, claiming that South Africa’s use of ICTs was a result of the private sector’s “commitment to facilitating our economic and developmental opportunities”.

She cited an example wherein three mobile companies would spend more than R20-billion on telecommunications infrastructure this year.

However, the release of analogue spectrum for wireless broadband use had placed a double-edged sword in the path of development.

“They [companies] are taking the capital expenditure route to deliver more and better services because the cheaper option – using wireless broadband spectrum – is denied them,” Shinn said, exclaiming that South Africa’s ICT sector in the past year has been its “most exasperating since the dawn of democracy”.

“Get out of the way, Minister, and let the ICT sector deliver,” she said in response to the DTPS Budget Vote.

Edited by Mariaan Webb
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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