Government’s goal to achieve 100 percent broadband rollout across South Africa by 2020 has been criticised as being wholly optimistic. Delays in making frequency spectrum available, migrating to digital terrestrial television and conducting market studies so that pro-competitive measures can be introduced are merely some of the things hampering progress. There’s been some debate as to whether universal access to mobile connectivity counts, but for the purposes of accessing voice, data and video content, government’s minimum requirement of a 256kbps connection is barely enough, and GSM or Edge won’t cut it.

✹ The future of telecommunications as a strong economic infrastructure for mass broadband access will depend on unbundling the local loop, freeing access to the existing infrastructure through open access and lowering the cost of ownership of the optic fibre networks. It furthermore requires a partnership between government and the private sector, to find alternative methods of laying optic fibre. It will mean moving away from trenching, a labour-intensive and expensive exercise and a major contributor to the excessive broadband access fees. Without action or a new way of innovating, the ‘2020 Broadband Access for Everyone’ plan will remain a pipedream.Musa Phungula, MD, TechTeleData