Western Cape allocates R53m for broadband

In February, in delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Jacob Zuma also only glanced over the telecommunications services and broadband sector.

“Last year, the private and public sector laid about 7,000 new fibre optic cables. The plan is to achieve 100% broadband internet penetration by 2020,” he said.
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What does 100% broadband internet penetration mean?
 
This kinda money will get you a wordpress install elsewhere in the country. ;)
 
MickeyD said:
Not even us from the Eastern Cape? :cry:
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Especially not the refugees of the Eastern Cape who are such a pressing problem for the Western Cape. You know all those refugees from Grahamstown who run to the Republic of the Western Cape and kwaZulu Natal to attend private schools and public universities ...

Its really bad for me because my passport was issued in Humansdorp and most of the work options for me involve the Republic of the Western Cape and work visa's could be a problem ...

back to topic:
To be entirely honest I am not sure how far provinces can actually go towards improving broadband access. I anticipate a ceiling of ability to make a difference coming and that the national government will end up derailing the projects.
 
Paul Hjul said:
To be entirely honest I am not sure how far provinces can actually go towards improving broadband access. I anticipate a ceiling of ability to make a difference coming and that the national government will end up derailing the projects.
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Fudzy's comment is pretty spot on: what do they mean by 100% broadband penetration? Does it mean that everyone will have access to a broadband connection within a certain range? For example, all libraries will be broadband zones and residents can use their facilities. Or will it mean that every household in the WC will have a broadband access point?

I remember reading of meshed wireless networks...
 
rpm said:
The Western Cape government has allocated a budgeted amount of R52.746 million for its Broadband Initiative in 2013.
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That's about 43 days of Vodacom's prepaid LTE at OOB rates.
 
surely on some of the definitions government likes to flout about Port Elizabeth and every urban area in South Africa has 100% broadband penetration because within 1Km a person has access to internet via a wireless hotspots and 3G or at least EDGE cellular access. The fact that this comes at a heavy price is irrelevant.
 
Paul Hjul said:
surely on some of the definitions government likes to flout about Port Elizabeth and every urban area in South Africa has 100% broadband penetration because within 1Km a person has access to internet via a wireless hotspots and 3G or at least EDGE cellular access. The fact that this comes at a heavy price is irrelevant.
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And remember satellite access... the whole of SA already has access to broadband per the DoC definition (256k) - forget about the cost of said access, who said it must be cheap!!
 
so the Free State simply built a wonderful province wide broadband network and then spent the reserve funds on a webpage
 
MickeyD said:
And remember satellite access... the whole of SA already has access to broadband per the DoC definition (256k) - forget about the cost of said access, who said it must be cheap!!
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On second thought I disagree, cost is a big factor in access.

Internet access in "urban" areas is measured without regard for cost of access but government requires that "rural areas" as defined by the power that is at the time must have access at acceptable pricing. I wonder if Telkom would be allowed to do what they like with regard to copper etc ... if they made access to sat broadband in "rural areas" (according to whatever definition prevails) at R50 per month plus filling out the relevant voter registration forms paperwork to establish that the user is in such a rural area.
 
Paul Hjul said:
On second thought I disagree, cost is a big factor in access.

Internet access in "urban" areas is measured without regard for cost of access but government requires that "rural areas" as defined by the power that is at the time must have access at acceptable pricing. I wonder if Telkom would be allowed to do what they like with regard to copper etc ... if they made access to sat broadband in "rural areas" (according to whatever definition prevails) at R50 per month plus filling out the relevant voter registration forms paperwork to establish that the user is in such a rural area.
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My reference to cost was sarcastic... the policy-makers conveniently forget about it,
 
I am not so sure that the policy makers thought about it long enough to forget :)
 
What happens to the ISPs if the munics tale it upon themselves provide Internet?
 
Gauteng is hardly a good benchmark when looking at infrastructure development. I'm thinking about that R2bn tender for equipping schools with PCs and networking them which totally and absurdly failed. A dead loss of at the very least R500mil in the end if they were spending the money wisely (the tenderpreneur managed 1500 out of 2200 schools -_-), but I cannot imagine how they failed this simple task. But an abysmal failure in any case. The tenderpreneur company is ofcourse now trading under a different name - The only thing is they are suddenly a big player - Mysterious capital from nowhere - Hardly mysterious if you ask me...

But don't get me started on irregular spending..

In the recent budget R200bn earmarked for solar power in the northern cape. That's more than $20bn... But note that they managed to build the Large Hadron Collider at CERN for $9bn somehow (the largest, most complicated and technologically advanced machine ever built by mankind). R100bn for I think two new coal power plants (also more expensive than the LHC). And of course then there is the inconsistency of the Eskom electricity price hikes to pay for all this, but obviously it is being paid for from the tax coffers if it is in the country's budget and not Eskom's. What a load of crock!
 
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