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Larry Claasen

Larry Claasen is a journalist at Financial Mail.

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The 2010 soccer World Cup could be the event that makes Internet adoption ubiquitous in SA.

Telecom traffic or Internet usage could rise by as much as 25% over the course of the event. This trend will be spurred by demand for mobile TV — broadcasting to cellphones — and the possible viewing of TV over the Internet, says William Hahn, an analyst at technology research group Gartner.

If the Beijing Olympic Games are anything to go by, global sporting events like the World Cup will continue to be a big driver of Internet usage. “The growth rate for applications such as downloads, messaging traffic and highlight viewing is staggering,” he says.

Hahn points out that it is not just a matter of the amount of Olympic content being accessed over the Internet; there is a change in the way people in the US are consuming online services.

Instead of just reading news stories, they are watching video highlights of the games, as if they were reading morning newspaper headlines.

But is SA ready to cater for the same kind of demand? On paper, the country looks unprepared. It might have more cellphones per head than the rest of the continent, but Internet usage only stands at a dismal 8,16 users per 100 inhabitants, according to International Telecoms Union 2007 figures.

Hahn expects this to change very quickly and points to the array of undersea cables being developed as signs of a dramatic change.

He says these cables will help deal with the shortage of international bandwidth and high prices in SA. “Increased supply leads providers to cut prices to the bone,” Hahn says.

But lower prices and more bandwidth are just the beginning.

Hahn sees an opportunity for mobile operators to push new products like mobile TV onto their consumer base. “Worldwide, mobile carriers are seeing mobile TV as a potential killer application for 3G,” he says.

3G was supposed to have driven Internet usage over the mobile phone, but has failed to live up to expectations — a shortage of tech-ready handsets during its launch and high tariffs resulted in the slow take-up.

Hahn says that the business case for mobile TV in SA is strong, considering that 25% of all the smart phones in Africa are in SA.

“Mobile TV will carry much of the video traffic during 2010 as increasing numbers of attendees and remote audiences show a willingness to view sports on the small screen,” he says.

Mobile TV licensing is expected to be completed next year and Vodacom and MTN are already offering subscribers the opportunity to download TV shows onto their phones.

Internet in SA discussion