Alcatel-Lucent executive vice president, Stephen Carter believes it vital that a country\u2019s broadband policy is viewed second only to economic policy.<\/p>\n
On a recent visit to SA, Carter, who is also president of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, noted big potential in the future of fast and reliable connectivity for all in the country, but added that this was dependent on the implementation of a robust ICT policy.<\/p>\n
Carter said that connectivity is a contributor to social equity, social cohesion and social fairness.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s vital that a country\u2019s broadband policy is viewed second, only to economic policy. It is a domestic issue and is primarily determined by local circumstances. It is significantly influenced by history, by geographical topology, population density and distribution in addition to local cultures and conventions,\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouth Africa can learn from international examples, but there is ultimately no blueprint to follow. I believe that Broadband policy has to have a domestic focus\u201d.<\/p>\n
Carter is of the opinion that there are three reasons why a country needs to have a public policy in ICT:\u00a0 \u201cOne is what I call social equity. All children should have access to the same level of education. All citizens should have equal access to health provision and health awareness.\u00a0 One person\u2019s opportunities for employment should not be better than another. All these elements of social equity are linked to connectivity and access to connectivity should be for all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter also feels that ICT is the ultimate industry horizontal that necessitates a comprehensive ICT policy. \u201cIn every business I come across, there is a network or IT director. Whether it\u2019s a small business or a large business, connectivity really makes business work. It allows you to transmit information, make decisions, operate in multiple time zones, deliver service opportunities to your customers, keep up to date, plan and reduce costs.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stressed that if there isn\u2019t a competitive connectivity infrastructure in the planning of a country\u2019s economy, the country will lose out. \u201dCompanies and individuals will decide on head-office location and expansion based on infrastructure, in a similar way to how decisions used to be based on transport accessibility and reliability.\u201d<\/p>\n
The third reason to have a policy in place is that it\u2019s a very efficient multiplier. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit like leveraged capital: If you have connectivity at the right scale and quality, your ability to get an economic multiplier effect is greater than that of your competitor,\u201d the EMEA lead said.<\/p>\n
Carter concludes that the speed of next-generation technology deployment varies greatly from country to country. He attributes this to technology coming in cycles.<\/p>\n
\u201cDepending on when you buy into technology, you have a different view on when you buy into the next technology. If you have countries that have made significant investments in 3G technology, they are unlikely to make significant investments in 4G technology until they have extracted a reasonable return on their capital investment\u201d.<\/p>\n