Will South Africa now see the
[29/03/2010]
Original article on IT Web at: http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31654&Itemid=68
"Rudi Jansen, MWEB CEO, says the time has come for South Africans to
experience unlimited Internet access that is within their means.
“Internet penetration in South Africa remains below par - in fact,
South Africa has fallen behind a number of other African countries in
recent times. The lack of well-priced, generously-provisioned bandwidth
has been holding us all back, and as a result we are missing out on an
immense economic opportunity.
Citing the examples of France and South Korea, and pointing to
various global ICT programmes aimed at overcoming the 2009 economic
slump, Jansen says the direct and indirect benefits including the
multiplier effect of cheap, abundant bandwidth are nothing short of
remarkable.
“Broadband lifted South Korea out of the devastation
of the Asian market collapse in 1997,” he says. “In 1995, 1% of their
population dialled up to the Internet. In 2009, more than 95% of
households had broadband. The change is deep and irreversible -
everybody has high-definition video on demand. Online gaming
conventions are as big as soccer matches or rock concerts. South
Koreans spend twice as much per capita online as US citizens.”
"Jansen
says MWEB hopes its actions are a precursor to a meaningful industry
response. Since South African telecoms policy was liberalised to permit
ISPs to offer services on their own networks, MWEB, a first-tier ISP
with its own international bandwidth provisioned through SAT-3 and
Seacom, is now able to compete with telcos by providing Internet access
on its own network.
“In spite of the current stranglehold that
Telkom currently has on the Internet market in South Africa, we felt
that action of this significance was necessary to get South Africa to
join the rest of the world and enjoy the social and economic benefits
that broadband Internet has to offer,” said Jansen. “This offer will
enable South Africans to access and download content on a scale never
seen before. We have a real chance to lift ourselves from broadband
mediocrity in South Africa, or we risk falling into broadband
oblivion,” he added."
