Communications Minister Yunus Carrim
Photo by: Duane Daws
The development of broadband in South Africa will be the “be-all and end-all” of the Department of Communications over the next few years, Communications Minister Yunus Carrim vowed on Tuesday.
Delivering the opening keynote address at the fifth IT Leaders Africa Summit, in Sandton, he said the department had finalised the National Broadband Policy, Strategy and Plan, also known as ‘South Africa Connect’, and had selected the advisory council responsible for driving the implementation of South Africa’s newly tabled broadband plan.
“The Internet economy is upon us and we want to be optimally placed to benefit,” he noted, pointing out that only 18% of the African continent and 33.7% of South Africans had access to the Internet.
South Africa Connect aimed to facilitate public–private partnerships and investments to fast-track South Africa’s broadband backbone and access infrastructure, particularly within rural and underserved areas, and meet the country’s vision of broadband for all by 2020.
The policy also aimed to remove policies that constrained the industry’s growth and align all spheres of government, including the nation’s 278 municipalities, to deliver seamless national broadband services.