IRMA-International.org: Creator of Knowledge
Information Resources Management Association
Advancing the Concepts & Practices of Information Resources Management in Modern Organizations

South Africa: A Long Walk to Broadband Freedom

South Africa: A Long Walk to Broadband Freedom
View Sample PDF
Author(s): Justin Henley Beneke (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Copyright: 2008
Pages: 16
Source title: Handbook of Research on Global Diffusion of Broadband Data Transmission
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Yogesh K. Dwivedi (Swansea University, UK), Anastasia Papazafeiropoulou (Brunel University, UK)and Jyoti Choudrie (University of Hertfordshire, UK )
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-851-2.ch002

Purchase

View South Africa: A Long Walk to Broadband Freedom on the publisher's website for pricing and purchasing information.

Abstract

South Africa has fallen behind its international peers both developing and developed markets in the race to rollout broadband services. In fact, even within the African continent, it is neither the broadband leader nor progressive in comparison to its Northern African counterparts. This chapter explores the development of broadband services in South Africa, as well as touching on the challenges faced in bringing this phenomenon into the mainstream. Reasons for the lack of diffusion and adoption of such services point to high end user costs of the service, a very limited geographical footprint of both fixedline and mobile broadband infrastructure, as well as a lack of computer literacy and an understanding of what broadband is able to offer. The chapter looks at possible solutions, including introducing a greater degree of competition into the market to facilitate downward pressure on prices, as well as providing cost-based access to international submarine fiber cables and the unbundling of the local loop to further this objective.

Related Content

Aditi Nag. © 2025. 38 pages.
Kapil Sharma, Nikhil Singh. © 2025. 26 pages.
Kapil Sharma, Rachna Kathuria. © 2025. 14 pages.
Sorabh Gupta, Mitu Sehgal, Rashmi Makkar, Alla Poorna Chandra Reddy, Habib Khan. © 2025. 34 pages.
Yogeshwar Prajapati, Krupali Gosai, Omprakash Suthar, Sushil Kumar Singh, Muhammad Talha Usman, Habib Khan. © 2025. 24 pages.
Aditi Nag, Anurag Singh Rathore. © 2025. 38 pages.
Vishal Jain, Archan Mitra. © 2025. 24 pages.
Body Bottom