With ongoing innovations in the development and use of information communications technology (ICT), the information age offers enormous potential for growth in all countries. Despite this, South Africa has yet to benefit from the vast resources and opportunities provided by ICT, particularly with regards to Internet access and telecommunications.
This is the opinion of George Finger, ICT specialist at the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA).
Finger recently completed a study in which he investigated the barriers to Internet adoption and usage amongst the previously disadvantaged. Research was conducted by soliciting responses from a sample of people in the black townships and surrounding areas. The sample included individuals using Internet cafés, community ICT centres and phone containers supplied by the three GSM operators.
Not surprisingly, only five of the 40 survey participants from the Free State township of Botshabelo had a fixed-line telephone in their homes and, only two were able to access the Internet at work. Reasons cited for lack of access to the Internet ranged from bad technology deployed (DECT), cost of computers, lack of Internet facilities at home, to a lack of access cable to their homes. The survey revealed that the use of Internet cafés and containers, with public phones and Internet facilities, is very high in previously disadvantaged areas.
He says that while Internet adoption is growing, there are still vast numbers of South Africans who do not have access to a telephone, never mind the Internet.
"This is largely due to the country's skewed approach to infrastructure development, which favours the first economy at the expense of the second economy and the bad technology choices by Telkom during exclusivity period for rural areas or second economy. Also, the survey revealed that a low level of technology deployed in these areas resulted in poor services and poor billing which led people to disconnect the services in those areas. This is contrary to the incumbent allegations that people did not have money to pay for the services. The result is an ever-widening gap between the information-rich and information-poor, known as the digital divide," he says. "In this case, Telkom should have corrected its technology choice and delivered what would suit these communities better."
Finger explains that the term digital divide refers to the difference between communities in their access to ICTs, as well as the gaps between the groups in their ability to use ICTs, due to varying levels of literacy and technical skills.
He warns that this divide will never be eliminated unless the development of telecommunications infrastructure within previously excluded communities (second economy) and programmes to provide basic ICT skills training to these communities are stepped-up.
"While lack of access to ICT is not the cause of social exclusion, it has the potential to further marginalise previously disadvantaged groups," he says. "As such, more Internet cafés and similar outlets should be established in the short-term, while proper telecommunications infrastructure is being built," says Finger.
The survey results also showed that many socially excluded groups also do not have access to the critical support needed to overcome computing challenges, such as lack of technical skills. The participants cited a lack of computer training at school and at work as a major problem. Hence they prefer using Internet cafés where they enjoy the help of employees.
"Against this background, it is clear that the private sector, government and public sector need to collaborate in developing awareness programmes about ICT skills training options that are available," says Finger, adding that restrictions to computer usage at home and at work is a critical inhibitor to both skills development and Internet access.
Only 5% of the participants have an e-mail address for either private or business purposes. Most rely on mobile SMS to communicate because of the lack of telecommunications infrastructure and high call costs.
"While participants complained about the lack of proper ICT infrastructure and high costs of Internet access, 70% of them agreed that the advantages of being able to access information far outweigh the high costs. This indicates that people would probably be prepared to pay for the service if they had access to the necessary ICT infrastructure and tools," says Finger.
Finger highlights that despite the limited scope of the survey, its results demonstrate that there is a pressing need to roll-out basic, affordable Internet access to previously disadvantaged communities and step-up telecommunications infrastructure development in the second economy.
"It is also painfully evident that the benefits of Internet usage are only enjoyed by a small percentage of South Africans. This perpetuates a condition of technological and information exclusion, creating an emerging society of information 'haves' and 'have-nots'.
"This has socio-economic ramifications that go beyond the ideological or moral with very real implications for the growth of the Internet economy in South Africa," concludes Finger.
For more information contact Nomia Machebe, Development Bank of Southern Africa, +27 (0) 11 313 3922.
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