Durban - South Africans are paying too much for the internet.
So says the Institute of Race Relations.
Chief executive of the Institute of Race Relations, Frans Cronje, said it emerged in the think-tank’s annual survey released this month that the high cost of accessing the internet and the slow speeds of connections were bad for the economy and freedom of expression.
South Africa fared poorly compared with advanced economies and emerging economies.
“The quality of the product we get is very much slower and much worse than what you might find in other parts of the world. What concerns us is the implications on the South African economy and the political system and South Africa’s future as a free and open society,” he said.
Cronje said countries that had internet access to cheap and high speed broadband reaped the economic benefits because consumers were able to access products faster and cheaper. “We would see a host of benefits to the country and a much-needed injection into gross domestic product growth in the country (if we had it),” Cronje said.
Better access to the internet also meant that the users would be able to access and share ideas and not have to rely on traditional state media.
Dominic Cull, regulatory adviser to the Internet Service Providers’ Association of South Africa, said there was a positive correlation between economic growth and internet penetration and this was a way of creating jobs in the economy.
He cited World Bank research that for every 10 percent increase in broadband penetration, the country’s economy grows by 1.38 percent.
“Prices have gone down over the years,” he said. There had been great progress made in making it more accessible.
He said the introduction of Cell C and Telkom to the market had had a positive effect, but there was still room for improvement.
He said decreased costs would assist in facilitating freedom of expression.
Strategist at digital consultancy company Digital Voodoo, Seth Mbhele, had a different opinion. “We will probably never be the fastest nor the cheapest,” Mbhele said.
He said that South African businesses were not taking advantage of the opportunities that were available to them and were unwilling to adapt to the environment.
Mbhele, 34, said the Institute of Race Relations views were a “little bit misleading”.
Foreign companies like Netflix who are looking to expand their markets in Africa would take over the South African market while local companies complained about the price and speed of the internet.
He said the cost and speed of the internet in the country would “sort itself out”.
From a political perspective, he said many people used social platforms like Facebook and Instagram to share information.
“There are many resources online that do not take up much bandwidth at all,” Mbhele said.
He also cited the free access to internet that the Tshwane municipality was offering its residents. “That being said, from a political perspective, the internet is the most liberating and democratic source of information out there.
“Access to the internet (free and unfettered access) in some form or other needs to be a fundamental and inalienable human right,” Mbhele said.
Daily News