Photo by: Reuters
As the focus of the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) remains on the first-phase implementation of South Africa (SA) Connect in eight districts over the next three years, plans are being finalised to expand broadband roll-out to the rest of the country starting next year.
Outlining the department’s focus for the year ahead, Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Dr Siyabonga Cwele said on Thursday that the first phase of the ambitious national broadband plan was under way across eight districts to connect clinics and health facilities, schools and educational institutions, police stations and government offices, including Department of Home Affairs sites, to broadband within the next three years.
Earlier this year, partially State-owned telecommunications giant Telkom was designated the ‘lead agency’ in the nation’s multibillion-rand broadband deployment, tasked with connecting offices in the eight district municipalities, particularly in the rural regions, such as Dr Kenneth Kaunda, in North West; Gert Sibande, in Mpumalanga; OR Tambo, in the Eastern Cape; Pixley ka Seme, in the Free State; Umgungundlovu and Umzinyathi, in KwaZulu-Natal; and Vhembe, in Limpopo.
Cwele was currently visiting each district for the pilot phase of the broadband roll-out to ensure its readiness in terms of infrastructure and skills to deploy the critical broadband services to the front-line offices of government.
The broadband roll-out was critical to government's efforts to modernise society and leverage information and communications technology to mitigate the challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment.
The much-revised and long-awaited SA Connect aimed to fast-track South Africa’s broadband backbone and access infrastructure, particularly in rural and underserved areas, and meet the country’s vision of providing broadband for all by 2020.
From next year to 2020, the DTPS would start deploying broadband to the rest of the country, with the “business case” and funding solutions for the next phase set to be finalised this year.
The plan envisaged access to universal average broadband speed of 5 Mb/s by 50% of the population this year.
By 2020, the department expected 100% access at a minimum speed of 5 Mb/s, with about 50% of the population able to access speeds of up to 100 Mb/s.
By 2030, 100% of the population was expected to have access to a minimum speed of 10 Mb/s, while 80% was expected to access speeds of up to 100 Mb/s.