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Cape Town - Tax incentives, a job-creation fund and digital TV migration herald a golden opportunity for the South African information, communications and technology (ICT) industry, according to
Dimension Data Holdings [JSE:DDT] chairperson
Andile Ngcaba.
Speaking to I-Net Bridge immediately after Present
Jacob Zuma delivered his state of the nation address on Thursday, Ngcaba said the measures announced meant that companies could confidently roll out infrastructure such as fibre-optic cables and whatever else was needed to improve connectivity in the country.
"The country needs thousands of kilometres of cable in order to improve connectivity as more and more undersea cables land," he said.
Zuma announced three main measures that would help create five million jobs over the next 10 years. These were the R9bn job-creation scheme, R20bn in incentives and tax breaks aimed mainly at manufacturing, and R10bn from the Industrial Development Corporation.
"The president also announced that the country would go ahead with digitial TV migration - that is a wonderful opportunity for the sector," Ngcaba said.
SA is converting its national broadcast system from an aged analogue service to digital.
"This means that set-top boxes (the devices used to convert digital signals for viewing on analogue TV sets) will have to be made here and there is a whole manufacturing plan," Ngcaba said.
He said at least 10 million households would have to have these devices installed.