The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies plans to deploy 9 900 hotspots in 16 districts across the country.
And South Africa is to get a R1.3 billion boost to realise a vision of providing affordable, high-speed internet access to all.
Delivering the budget vote of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) on Wednesday, Minister Mondli Gungubele said R1.3bn had been allocated to fund this project.
This as the department aims to reach 80% connectivity by next year.
According to Statista, as of last year the share of the total population of South Africa using the internet was nearly 80%. This share was estimated to grow to 90% by 2027, which would be an increase of 28% compared to 2018 when the share of the population accessing the internet in the country was 62%.
The department’s total budget for 2023/24 was R3.5bn, of which R1.6bn was for transfers and subsidies for ICT Enterprise Development and SOE Oversight.
Gungubele said President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted in his State of the Nation Address earlier this year the country’s vision of providing affordable, high-speed internet access to all. He said the department was committed to realising this vision through various programmes and legislative interventions.
South Africa is widely recognised as having one of the most advanced digital ecosystems in the continent. Its key features include more than 300 000 kilometres of fibre distributed across the country, which was the result of significant investment by both the public and private sectors.
“This country has the advantage of being connected to eight undersea cables that physically connect this continent to neighbouring continents. We want to acknowledge the landing of the Africa submarine cable by Vodacom in the Eastern Cape earlier this year.
“We also want to highlight the Equiano cable by Google, working with Telkom, which will provide exponential capacity to the digital ecosystem,” said Gungubele.
“I recently visited its location here in the Western Cape and it is exciting to know that this cable alone will triple the internet speeds in the country and significantly reduce the cost of data.
“Through our flagship programme, SA Connect, we are dedicated to bridging the digital divide by providing wi-fi access to communities and ensuring universal access to the internet.”
Gungubele said the department planned to deploy 9 900 hotspots in 16 districts across the country this year.
He said the department’s goal was to enable the digital sector to grow to its full potential while guaranteeing that everyone had access to reliable, affordable and high-speed connectivity.
“To ensure an inclusive digital economy, we will massify digital skills creation and create an enabling environment that supports the creation of innovative digital solutions that can be commercialised to support livelihoods.”
Speaking on World Telecommunication and Information Society Day on Thursday, Lunga Siyo, CEO of Telkom Consumer and Small Business, said industries, which are the backbone of the African economy, had a reliance on connectivity for transformation and tackling the socio-economic challenges that South Africa faced as a country and on the broader continent.
Technology and connectivity had opened the global supply chains for economic growth on the continent and could be seen as a catalyst for social inclusion, allowing for expansion to access knowledge, refinement of financial services and healthcare, the creation of new business opportunities and providing consumers with access to more choices –essentially remedying the economic gap that existed between Africa and the more established nations, he said.
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