by Dr. Alison Gillwald, executive director, Research ICT Africa and adjunct professor UCT Graduate School of Business, Management of Infrastructure Reform and Regulation
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Two years ago the South African telecoms sector saw a window of opportunity open on the moribund policy in the ICT sector in South Africa with the appointment of a new minister and director general of communications. That window blew shut with the internal wrangling and lack of leadership that focused on quick political gains rather than developing a vision for this sector as a critical leg of a modern economy, and bedding down a skilled and effective regulator to usher in a fair competitive environment with access to affordable services for all.
We start the new year with a new minister and shortly a new director general. Let’s ensure another opportunity to revive the sector is not lost. South Africa is two years behind where it was two years ago – when we were already suffering from a decade of policy constraints and ineffectual regulation that had resulted in sub-optimal growth and our steady descent down international ICT indices.
Despite South Africa being an early adopter of most new technologies, it has an extraordinarily low internet penetration rate for a lower middle-income country and is no longer even a continental leader in broadband access. Added to this is the high cost of broadband and other services required as inputs into the broader economy. International bandwidth costs are expected to fall with the landing of multiple undersea cables. The challenge is now in the terrestrial backbone and the backhaul extension that will connect end-users, terrestrial backbones and undersea cables. The roll out of this is still hampered by uncoordinated and conflicting network extension policies and strategies, anti-competitive behaviour associated with network dominance and legal and regulatory bottlenecks.
There has been no comprehensive review of ICT policy since 1996. A serious policy overhaul is required. The country needs an integrated e-strategy. A visionary broadband strategy will need to underpin it. A series of economic impact studies have demonstrated the positive effects of improved broadband penetration on economic growth and job creation. Multi-million dollar broadband strategies have become central to economic recovery and economic growth strategies around the word.
These are not narrowly conceived infrastructural development programmes but comprehensive network, services, applications and content strategies located in a wider economy. A new ICT policy will require the identification of policy levers to improve South Africa’s sub-optimal performance – identifying the necessary conditions for attracting critical investments in infrastructure extension, the optimal market structure and institutional arrangements, together with identifying demand stimulation strategies that are essential to ensuring digital inclusion. This includes everything from short-term incentive strategies to promote the uptake of PCs and internet-enhanced devices, to longer term educational and IT literacy programmes.
Attach to these strategies realistic targets that will nevertheless stretch us. Let’s say, in five years, South Africa should aim to regain its rating as the top performing country in Africa on international indices such as the ITU Development Index and thre WEF e-Readiness index. Within ten years it targets being at the top of the emerging BRIC(S) markets in all categories – it is already ahead in some. Fifteenth in 15 years! South Africa should aim to be in the top 15 in the world within 15 years.
While this may seem an ambitious target, Korea, with a co-ordinated national ICT project identified as a key economic driver, has moved to the top of many global ICT indices over the last 15 years from a similar position both it and South Africa were in 15 to 20 years ago – around 40th on ITU ratings. Though South Africa today stands at 92nd and it may be a longer haul, it already has a far more developed market than Korea had then – it is just not optimised for inclusion, growth and development.
