Fixed-line broadband use in SA continues to decline as more users switch to cellphone Internet connections -which are more expensive but more convenient.<\/p>\n
Fixed-line penetration has fallen to fewer than 4-million connections this year\u201a compared with 5.5-million connections 12 years ago. Last year there were enough cellphones in circulation for every South African to have one.<\/p>\n
The telecoms and internet sectors of the economy should be on the cusp of a boom period\u201a but the slow rollout of infrastructure\u201a coupled with high unemployment and muddling regulations\u201a were constraining it\u201a analysts warned.<\/p>\n
Frost & Sullivan<\/a> analyst Chipo Ngongoni said on Tuesday the Southern African telecoms market had revenue of R32bn in 2010 and this could grow to an estimated R161bn in 2017.<\/p>\n Arthur Goldstuck<\/a>\u201a MD of World Wide Worx<\/a>\u201a said those numbers might be on the low side. He estimated data service revenue alone had earned operators more than R27bn in 2010. But he agreed internet connectivity in SA was significantly lower than the potential customer base.<\/p>\n “The big problem is that the notion of broadband is often used to mean internet access\u201a which it is not. There are many people who are occasional internet users through their cellphones.”<\/p>\n Ngongoni said traditional technologies for broadband connection were experiencing a gradual decline in subscriptions.<\/p>\n The main targets for internet service providers in Southern Africa were now businesses\u201a as individuals required constant connectivity.<\/p>\n “With improved connectivity\u201a revenue and growth in the market are expected to be spurred by cellphone broadband and data-based\u201a value-added services for the next three to five years\u201a” he said.<\/p>\n “The growth of the broadband market is\u201a however\u201a likely to be inhibited by regulatory inefficiencies. Low disposable incomes will\u201a moreover\u201a restrain the demand for data services\u201a which will be further aggravated by limited access to infrastructure.”<\/p>\n Related articles<\/strong><\/p>\n Telkom hit by more copper theft<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Price cut for Telkom uncapped services<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Telkom ADSL price increase, speed upgrade details<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n