Connecting the Economy: access to knowledge is vital for progress | Ndifuna Ukwazi
▻http://nu.org.za/connecting-the-economy
David Harrison’s article in the Cape Times titled The Empowerment of Connection should act as wake up call for all the communities of South Africa (rich and poor) to put more pressure on communications departments within government and the private sector into making internet affordable. Investing in cheaper connectivity for all should be a major priority: research has shown that it increases household income, which means a larger consumer pool for corporates and more tax money for the government – everybody wins.
(...) The immediate future of connectivity and information access is through mobile technology, with the 2011 consensus revealing that 89% of households own at least one cell phone, whereas only 21% have access to computers, and 15% access to a landline. Half of the people who do access the web, do so via a phone. But, damningly, two thirds of the South African population still do not have access to the internet. The reason for this is infrastructure. There are cell phone towers broadcasting to most inhabited places in South Africa, but the cost of using them is too high to make it practical for sending and receiving large amounts of information.
