Rural cellular subsidies plan queried
PLANS to subsidise cellular operators to extend their networks into every rural area may not be money well spent, says the South African Communications Forum.
Forum president Eddie Funde said an initiative by the Universal Access and Service Agency of SA to subsidise infrastructure roll-out costs by up to 80% would certainly ensure services reached the poor and underprivileged. But the agency should be encouraging local community consortiums to do the job instead.
The agency believes the big players must be given incentives to reach remote areas. In return for the subsidies, they would have to provide high quality voice and data services at prices that even the poorest citizens could afford.
MTN and Vodacom have welcomed the idea, which would finally see the cash they contribute to the Universal Service Fund returned to help them meet their obligations to serve every citizen. MTN said it was anxious that the infrastructure subsidies to help them reach needy people should be finalised quickly.
Subsidies promised would not see the operators slow down their pace of network roll-out to wait for a handout.
“We acknowledge that some areas in SA continue to be unprofitable, but this initiative from the agency will go a long way in connecting the 6% of the population that is currently not connected,” MTN said.
But the Communications Forum wants to help the agency find partners in rural areas to get involved in supplying those services.
“One reason some areas are under-served is because there are no profits there for the big players, so they need partners who can work in those areas,” said Funde.
Co-operatives could be formed to supply their own services simply to see their communities get connected, and not to make a profit, he said.
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