Cape Town – Internet connectivity remains a precious commodity for many South Africans, but even more so in rural areas where accessibility, long distances and generally lower levels of income all prove prohibitive factors.
The high cost of data in South Africa, where one Gigabyte (GB) costs around R160, made headlines last year and sparked the #DataMustFall campaign as lobbyists sought to compel government to force the major cellular companies to lower data charges.
But while 1GB of data costs around R160, in many poor townships and rural areas, people can only afford to buy a few rands worth of data at a time – often times as little as R10 which is not even enough for 20 Megabytes (MB) of data.
The African News Agency (ANA) spoke to a range of people in the rural West Coast towns of Darling and Abbotsdale recently around the issue of data costs.
Cost of data bundles points to affordability issues
Henry Solomons, 20, from Darling, said he usually bought R10 worth of data a week, which he used mostly for Whatsapp and occasionally, Facebook.
This tied in with what South African journalist and commentator on communications technology, Arthur Goldstuck, said recently: "The fact that bundles start as low as R5 for a specified number of minutes provides the clue to just how little some voice customers can afford."
Henry Solomons says internet access is essential. Photo: Andrea Chothia/ANA
Solomons lives roughly 30 minutes away from the nearest outlet.
When asked whether it was more burdensome for people in rural towns to access data and airtime than those in the cities, Solomons responded: "For us in the rural towns, it's very difficult because we normally have to take a taxi or ask someone for a lift to the shops or just walk a far distance."
Former top Vodacom executive and co-founder and CEO of venture capital firm Washirika Holdings, Romeo Kumalo, wrote on the Sowetan Live website recently: "According to Internet World Stats, local internet penetration is just 52.6 percent and most internet connectivity is enabled through mobile devices.
"Due to prohibitive costs and the low penetration rate of the smart devices, end-users need to leverage access to the internet, mobile broadband in South Africa remains accessible only to the middle and upper classes."
Solomons added that only a local supermarket and a local Chinese shop in Darling had Wi-Fi, but other than that, there was no other access.
"I would try to put Wi-Fi on but there would be no signal or it would ask for a code and if you don't know it then you can't use it," he said.
Solomons said that it is extremely important to connect with the people around him.
"It keeps me busy and allows me to know what's going on with my friends and in their lives."
Solomons went on to say that when the signal dissipated, his friends would complain asking him why he did not reply or stay in touch, enforcing the importance of connection and communication.
"I couldn't last a day without data"
Sattar Hossain uses the internet to keep in touch with family and friends. Photo: Andrea Chothia/ANA
Owner of the quaint Dinkies Café in Darling, Sattar Hossain, said that most of his customers used the Cell C network as it had the cheapest data bundles.
"Most customers buy R10 airtime and on a good day, we could have about 200 people coming in to buy airtime," said Hossain.
He said that he personally bought 2GB of data per month, costing roughly R150 with Telkom Mobile and another R350 worth of airtime.
"I am always on social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I get my news from reading the newspaper or reading BBC World News on my phone."
Hossain told ANA that he thought the price of airtime was where it should be, but that data prices definitely needed to drop.
"For the way I use my phone, data prices should fall. I couldn't last a day without data because I have to connect with my friends and family," said Hossain.