Too many delays in SA broadband: Minister

“Now this will depress you,” said Minister of Communications Yunus Carrim about the delays faced by South Africa’s new broadband policy.

Speaking to attendees of Telkom’s Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (Satnac), Carrim acknowledged the many missed deadlines of the Ministry and Department of Communications.

Carrim said that he had entitled his talk “South Africa’s Broadband Policy: too many delays, now for progress together.”

He reaffirmed his commitment to deliver a broadband policy, strategy and plan by the end of November 2013, but did so tempered with the reality of how long it has taken.

Carrim said that he was given a draft of the policy last week (end of August 2013), but that he told his staff that it was too long and needed to be shortened and simplified.

He also explained that even though there are significant challenges, he is still pushing for them to deliver a spectrum policy by the end of March 2014.

“If you’re not anxious about [a spectrum policy], you should be,” Carrim said.

Among the challenges they face in putting these policies together, Carrim said, is that in the absence of policies people want to do their own thing. There is also interest from a great many stakeholders to be involved in the policy-making, which is challenging to co-ordinate, Carrim said.

Carrim also talked up successes government achieved since 1994, referring to the 2012 development indicators.

He said that while one could have a debate on the quality of the quantity of water, electricity, and housing delivered, a bottom-line indicator is that the real incomes of the poorest South Africans have risen.

This led into Carrim challenging South African telecommunications providers on their pricing. He said that the reason for prices remaining so high needs to be confronted.

Carrim referred to those South African companies with operations abroad who charge less in those markets than they do here.

“We thought charity begins at home, but in telecoms industry it begins somewhere else,” Carrim said.

More SA broadband news

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DStv dominance must be broken: Minister

LLU: get ready to wait some more

Cutting to the price of Internet access in SA

New communication minister’s deadlines: here they are

Jan Vermeulen is a guest of Telkom at Satnac 2013