The state monopoly of the telecoms sector in the form of Telkom has seen SA's broadband development rate lag behind similar-sized economies in the rest of the world, says Steve Briggs, CEO of Arc Telecoms.
“There are several reasons for the slow broadband development in SA, but chief among them is the fact that the country lacked a competitive telecoms industry until very recently,” he notes. “Even today, the state has a heavy hand in some key assets.”
Briggs says the industry only started to see positive broadband developments during the past 12 to 18 months with the opening up of competition in the ADSL and 3G segments of the consumer markets.
“Competition has increased on all fronts as infrastructure has improved, notably the international cables which have recently been installed. This is evidenced by the aggressive competition in the ADSL and 3G segments of the consumer market,” explains Briggs.
“On the wholesale front, networks including Neotel, Vodacom, MTN and Telkom are also more ready to resell both directly and via channel partners,” he adds. “However, these dynamics have only been evident for the past 12 to 18 months.”
Nonetheless, Briggs says in comparison with its peers, SA's telecoms industry is lagging behind as the country has not implemented key aspects to expand the sector.
“We certainly lag, even among our African peers. For example, telecoms vendors in Nigeria already offer fibre to the home. Even similar-sized economies like Brazil and Turkey are ahead of us,” he notes.
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