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Johannesburg - South Africa’s expensive and slow internet is holding back the country’s economic growth prospects and democratic freedoms, says the Institute of Race Relations (IRR).
An IRR survey says the average monthly cost of broadband in South Africa is more than ten times that of the UK. But the UK has internet speeds that are five times faster than in SA.
This finding forms part of the IRR’s South Africa Survey, which has been published since 1946 and is the annual yearbook on social, economic and political aspects of SA.
The study elaborated that average monthly costs of broadband in South Africa and the UK are $28 and $3 respectively. Yet the UK has broadband speeds of 24mbps compared to South Africa’s 4.8mbps.
“So, the first reason that South Africa needs to be worried about this is the effect on the South African economy,” said IRR CEO Frans Cronjé in a recorded video on the subject.
“And we have little doubt that if we were to secure cheaper and faster broadband internet access in South Africa, we’d see a host of economic benefits for the country and much needed injection into GDP (gross domestic product) growth in the South African economy,” he said.
He added that the IRR’s second interest in broadband access and speed is linked to political spin-offs for democracy.
“Countries that are able to secure their citizens the freedom to circulate ideas are generally freer societies, more stable and more prosperous democracies than those in which citizens are dependent on the news media they have access for example from a state broadcaster, or are limited in the ideas they can circulate around society,” he said.
“We think a key ingredient in South Africa’s future, as a free and open society, is ensuring that its people are able to take control of the ideas that they circulate and are able to access any ideas and information as freely and as quickly and as cheaply as possible,” said Cronjé.
Other details to emerge out of the IRR study include that SA is among a few developing countries with a high-cost but low-speed internet ratio.
“We pay more for our broadband and the quality of the product that we get is very much slower, very much worse than what you might find in other parts of the world,” said Cronjé.
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SA’s other low internet rankings
The IRR is not the only organisation to mark down’s SA’s internet situation.
According to a study by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) called ‘Measuring the Information Society Report 2014’, SA ranked 137 out of 166 countries in terms of factors such as the percentage of individuals using the internet, fixed or wired broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, and wireless-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
The ITU study said that in 2013, 48.9% of South Africans used the internet while just 3.1% had wired broadband access and 28.7% had wireless broadband access.
But mobile broadband is proving to be a key internet growth area in SA where there were 146 mobile phones per 100 inhabitants in 2013, according to the ITU.
“Data from South African operators show that not only is wireless- broadband penetration reaching higher levels – 29% by end 2013 – but customers are consuming more data, indicating an increase in the intensity of usage. MTN reported a growth of 63% in data volumes in the first half of 2013 and Vodacom reported that on average users were generating 75% more data traffic per device than a year ago,” said the ITU in its report.
“Wireless broadband is of particular importance in the region because fixed-broadband infrastructure is lacking,” added the ITU.
