Study paints grim telecoms picture
Perhaps they should consider themselves lucky. If they were based in a township or any of SA’s sprawling rural areas, they would not be able to get ADSL at all.
The fact that township entrepreneurs are constrained to internet speeds as sluggish as treacle on a cold day is not only a serious impediment to them, but also a major inhibitor to the country’s economic growth.
Fresh research by the SMME Forum, a body representing small and mainly black-owned businesses, shows the high cost of voice and data services and slow internet access is damaging SA’s competitiveness.
Nothing new there, of course, but the forum has compiled some striking figures about just how much it is costing its members to communicate.
The average small business in urban Gauteng pumps 4,98% of its running costs into telecoms, and 6% in rural Gauteng.
Even more disturbing is that 93,4% of small businesses in Eludini in Eastern Cape have no access to a fixed line phone. Between 74% and 89% of small businesses in other “neglected areas” also have no fixed lines.
“For small businesses to take advantage of any business opportunity they need access to information and communications technology infrastructure,” says the forum’s president, Tebogo Khaas.
And they just are not getting it. With only 5-million fixed lines in use, a scant 11% of the population is covered. Only 4-million people have internet access and a mere 0,2% have broadband internet access.
Telkom’s ADSL service had not reached the townships at all before October. That has improved in the past few months, with some residents in Soweto now having ADSL, says Telkom’s corporate communications executive, Lulu Letlape. Orlando, Diepkloof and Protea are covered and the roll-out will continue, she says.
The SMME Forum also has interesting statistics about the lack of success for township internet cafes. Vodacom’s debut with a R60-an-hour service in Tembisa was so expensive that “people would rather take a taxi and drive past the centre to Kempton Park”, says Khaas. Vodacom says the price has fallen substantially since the forum’s last visit.
It is no good hoping the Universal Service Agency will come to the rescue by setting up subsidised facilities where they are required, the forum says, as the agency is failing to serve the communities it is meant to help. Telecoms operators contribute to the Universal Services Fund but the cash is not going where it is needed.
The forum’s criticism was followed by positive suggestions. First, Telkom should review its internet prices for small businesses. It should be more accommodating to black businesses and organisations that represent them, Khaas says. “There is a high risk in providing infrastructure (in the townships) because of cable theft, but if you work with the communities the risk is highly mitigated. Community service centres hardly get vandalised if they are owned locally and Telkom is seen as a partner.”
Relaxing legislation to encourage competition is also crucial. Private players such as internet providers should be allowed to set up their own networks rather than have to use Telkom’s lines. Entrepreneurs could then set up wireless networks quickly and cheaply and offer greater choice.
Finally, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) must make some of its long awaited rulings and enforce those it has made. Icasa has yet to hold hearings on the high cost of cellphone calls and has yet to crack down on ADSL prices, despite declaring the fees exorbitant.
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