South Africa has been waiting for over a decade for more broadband spectrum to be assigned on a long-term basis to network operators. This will soon be on its way, after an inexcusable delay.
Technology is constantly evolving, and for South Africa to simply keep up with key communication technologies, the government will have to show far greater institutional agility in its decision-making.
The new assignment of broadband could push down data prices and raise network speeds, coverage, and quality. It would also help pave the way to greater access to broadband and for many more to enter the digital economy. There is a lot of hype around 5G, the latest iteration of cellular technology, but far faster speed and greater capacity do open up new and unimagined possibilities in augmented reality, the internet of things, education, medicine, manufacturing, and much more.
The surge in demand for broadband that came with the Covid-19 lockdown put pressure on the government and the regulator to roll out long-promised greater spectrum access to network operators. Finally, after years of delay, there was a temporary assignment of spectrum in April.
With that, South Africa took a technology leap and 5G networks became available, albeit only on a limited scale in certain areas. In November the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the government body that regulates the airwaves, will auction new spectrum on a permanent basis.
The reason for the decade-long delay is the result of what has become a perfect storm due to policy shifts, frequent changes in telecommunications ministers and directors-general, the amalgamation of government departments, waiting for green papers and white papers, and some ultimately unfathomable reasons. The result has been a delay both in the migration of broadcasting services from analogue to digital and in the availability of additional spectrum. There has been a large cost to the country from this debacle of lost opportunities.
Low agility
While the reasons may differ, the entire episode bears a resemblance in some respects to the failure of Eskom to expand its generation capacity well ahead of the start of load-shedding over a decade ago. It has been another show in low agility and absence of fleet-footedness from a government that aspires to becoming an entrepreneurial state.
The operators have been adept at supplying more broadband in the absence of additional spectrum from the regulator, but the auction will be crucial to the South African economy’s having access to new digital opportunities.
The matter of a broadband auction for additional spectrum has been on the list of the country’s big structural reforms for years. It has stood out as a symbol of the country’s inability to move on issues that are easy wins for the economy. Reports by private sector economists and the International Monetary Fund in recent years have listed the need to auction spectrum, along with the need for changes in the labour laws and for ending bailouts to state-owned enterprises, as key structural reforms required to boost growth.
Broadband access is a booster to economic growth and inclusion. It helps raise productivity in an economy and yields network effects that widen participation. The effect is more established in developed countries, but digital access has widened economic opportunity globally.
According to the latest After Access Survey produced by Research ICT Africa, a digital policy and regulatory think tank, about 84 percent of South Africans have mobile phones, but internet penetration is only around 53 percent. Only about half of South Africans are online because they cannot afford smart devices, and digital literacy is low, Research ICT Africa’s 2018 access survey shows. And, for those online, data prices are unaffordable for frequent use, and prohibitive for remote work or home-schooling, says the think tank.
The costs of mobile devices are coming down, but pre-paid data remains pricey in South Africa. With increased competition, the barrier to entry for consumers could well drop, and, in time, wider use could help spread digital literacy.
Access for the poor
Research ICT Africa says excise duties on entry-level phones should be reviewed as part of finding ways to bring down prices. In addition, the extension of free public WiFi to smaller towns and rural areas is imperative in ensuring access for the poor.
Research ICT Africa’s executive director, Alison Gillwald, says ICASA missed a big opportunity in April to bring about universal online access when it failed both to widen the pool of operators and to bring newcomers on board. Gillwald says ICASA should have permitted micro-operators in the latest spectrum assignment to build broadband networks in areas that the large operators view as uneconomic. The big operators like Vodacom and MTN are most interested in the areas of high traffic in which they are able to generate the most revenue, but there are smaller operators able to build networks in under-served areas and offer lower-cost services.
‘The old models of exclusive licences for data were designed for old telecoms infrastructure and not for the dynamic offerings in an IT-based world. We really need to move out of these old frameworks,’ she says.
Regulators in the United States and the United Kingdom have been very innovative in bringing in micro operators to both stimulate and encourage greater competition.
The sluggishness and lack of innovation by South Africa’s official agencies on rolling out broadband is at odds with the big ambitions of the government in the digital arena. The National Development Plan of 2012 presented a vision of widespread broadband that, by 2030, would ‘underpin a dynamic and connected vibrant information society and a knowledge economy that is more inclusive, equitable and prosperous’. Despite commissions and plans, there is little to suggest that South Africa is fast approaching this goal.
Despite load-shedding and far-from-universal access, President Cyril Ramaphosa has spoken frequently of his ambitions for the Fourth Industrial Revolution to greatly extend the opportunities for digital technology. The president’s 30-person Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution recently presented its report calling for a number of initiatives, including training, and for research institutes to look into artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
Enormous potential
In a phased roll-out, South African learners are to be given tablets that will allow them to access workbooks and textbooks. This has enormous potential, but should be extended to e-learning to make up for the country’s shoddy school system. All this will really work if broadband access is extended.
Perhaps the most urgent step is for government services to be placed online. This could help to reduce paper use and speed up procedures. And, through greater transparency, it could help to take corruption out of the system.
It might well be best for the government to focus on getting the basics right through improved regulation and greater agility, and to leave the Fourth Industrial Revolution entirely to the private sector.
[Picture: Daniel Dino-Slofer from Pixabay]
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR
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