6 September 2005

South Africa's second national operator needs to be operational soon in order to address the high cost of telecommunications in the country, says President Thabo Mbeki.

Addressing the media in Zeerust on Sunday after a three-day meeting of the Presidential International Advisory Council on Information Society and Development, Mbeki said the SNO would be one of the ways to lower communications costs.

The SNO is set to become state company Telkom's first rival.

Shareholders in the SNO signed an agreement in August paving the way for the issuing of a public switched telecommunication service licence by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa.

The shareholders are Tata, Two Consortium and CommuniTel, Nexus Connexion, and state-owned enterprises Eskom (Esitel) and Transnet (Transtel).

The presidential council told Mbeki, Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri and other government representatives that telecommunications were in many countries cheaper than in South Africa.

The council also advised the government to increase its drive to introduce technology at schools. Schools, it said, should operate as centres providing services to surrounding communities.

"The question we have to ask ourselves as government is, how do we make sure that rural communities have access to this technology," Mbeki said. "We are dealing with communities that are poor, therefore access must be affordable."

Matsepe-Casaburri said the council had acknowledged the ICT developments that had taken place in South Africa, but had urged the government to put more flexible regulations in place.

Another focus of the meeting, she said, was "affordable wireless broadband access and how it could impact positively on the lives of rural people."

Source: BuaNews

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