Competition the reason for Australia’s increased broadband take-up
Australian broadband take-up has almost doubled in the past 12 months to September 2005 reaching an impressive 2.6 million connections.
ADSL is the number one choice for Australians with around 73% (or 1.9 million) of the broadband connections falling into this category.
Broadband penetration is fast becoming one of the key economic indicators foreign investors look at making it a telecommunication focal point for many nations.
South Africa is no different in this regard.
The Department of Communication identified the introduction of competition in the South African telecommunications sector as a key component to growth in this industry.
It seems that in this instance South Africa is in line with international trends although it is not difficult to conclude that in our highly restrictive telecom environment increased competition is required.
It is in implementing these policies that South Africa falls behind.
Whilst Australia has aggressively pursued broadband penetration targets by implementing measures to ensure optimal competition, South Africa is still dilly-dallying.
The Second National Operator (SNO) was licensed just before the close of 2005 with much celebration, but since then South Africans are no wiser as to when they will be operational.
Telkom, currently the only fixed-line provider, has also made murmurs regarding their intention to boost broadband penetration to between 15 and 20% by 2008 but they too have left the broadband community clueless regarding their future roll-out plans.
For Telkom to reach a target of 680 000 broadband connections by 2008 ADSL prices will have to fall drastically in order to capture this portion of the South African market.
Whilst price reductions may be on the cards it seems that the telecoms giant is waiting to accumulate the capital before reducing prices, a luxury that only a legally protected monopoly has.
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