As the Covid-19 pandemic brings South Africa’s widening digital divide into sharp focus, having the latest-generation connectivity, unaffordable for many, will not make much of an economic impact without lowering the costs.
South Africa has had some success with its various deployments of third-generation (3G) and fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution technologies in recent years, with penetration nearly at the 100% mark.
However, while there is relatively easy access to connectivity and the Internet for many with a mobile phone, not all South Africans can afford its use, thereby negating its intended impact and further widening the digital divide.
Speaking during a Nedbank webinar on narrowing the digital divide, Altron Nexus CEO Mark Harris highlighted the highly unequal access to fast and affordable Internet connectivity, with the cost of accessing the networks a barrier for lower-income households.
Broadband was a major enabler of social and economic change, with many benefits, he told participants during the webinar, which was hosted in association with EE Business Intelligence and the University of the Witwatersrand’s Joburg Centre for Software Engineering.
Broadband PenetrationFor every 1 000 additional broadband users, 80 new jobs are created, while every 10 percentage point increase in broadband penetration brings about a 1% growth in gross domestic product.
It also enables improved educational performance, higher citizen participation, improved health and increased social interaction and communication, besides others.
Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams says that the proportion of households using only cellular phones as a means of communication steadily increased to 89.5% in 2018, showing greater reliance on mobile phones, while, at national level, the proportion of household access to the Internet was 64.7%, half of which used mobile phones to do so.
South Africa’s national population coverage for 3G and 4G reached 99.7% and 92.8% respectively in 2019, while the fibre-to-the-home or -building Internet subscription rate increased by 28.8% in 2019 to over 1.6-million subscriptions.
However, Harris points out that a collective 12% of households have access to ADSL and fibre, while primary home Internet access through a wireless router or tablet is only at about 21% and 10% respectively.
While mobile connectivity is high in the country, it is not “good enough to have the type of economic and social impact required”.
For lower-income households, citizens may have access to 3G connectivity through their phones; however, they cannot afford its use.
While the cost of data is continuously decreasing, there is a long way to go before connectivity and broadband become affordable for all.