Internet in South Africa

The Internet is expanding in South Africa, which is one of the most technologically-resourced country on the African continent.

.za was granted to South Africa by ICANN in 1990, early on in the transition from the apartheid-era rule of South Africa's National Party to multi-party, multiracial government under the African National Congress.

Broadband in South Africa

The first ADSL package, a 512/256 kbit/s offering, was introduced in August 2002 by national telecoms monopoly Telkom. Later, in response to growing demand for cheaper ADSL options, two more products were introduced: a mid-range 384/128 kbit/s offering, and an entry-level 192/64 kbit/s one. On 1 September 2005 Telkom released its 1 Mbit/s offering. In late 2006, Telkom commenced with trials for 4 Mbit/s ADSL. They also began phasing out their 192 kbit/s offering, upgrading subscribers to 384 kbit/s at no extra charge. Neotel in May 2008, launched consumer services, their broadband using CDMA technology.

Products currently available through Telkom SA:

* 384/128 kbit/s for R152 (~ US$20) + ISP costs
* 512/256 kbit/s for R326 (~ US$43) + ISP costs
* 4096/512 kbit/s for R413 (~ US$54) + ISP costs

Products currently available through Neotel:

NeoConnect Prime 2.5GB – 2.4 Mbit/s

* 1000 Neotel-to-Neotel voice minutes
* 50 Neotel-to-Neotel SMSes
* NeoMail Basic
* Internet access up to 2.5 GB of data
* Cost: R399 per month (~US52)

NeoConnect Prime 5GB – 2.4 Mbit/s

* 1000 Neotel-to-Neotel voice minutes
* 15 free local and regional off-net Telkom minutes
* 50 Neotel-to-Neotel SMSes
* NeoMail Advanced
* Internet access up to 5 GB of data
* Cost: R499 per month (~US66)

NeoConnect Prime 15GB – 2.4 Mbit/s

* 1500 Neotel-to-Neotel voice minutes
* 60 free local and regional off-net Telkom minutes
* 75 Neotel-to-Neotel SMSes
* 50 National SMSes
* NeoMail Pro
* Internet access up to 15 GB of data
* Cost: R 699 per month (~US92)

NeoConnect Prime Unlimited – 2.4 Mbit/s

* 2000 Neotel-to-Neotel voice minutes
* 120 free local and regional off-net Telkom minutes
* 100 Neotel-to-Neotel SMSes
* 100 National SMSes
* NeoMail Expert
* Unlimited Internet usage
* Cost: R999 per month (~US131)

NeoConnect Lite 2 GB – 156 kbit/s

* 500 Neotel-to-Neotel voice minutes
* 25 Neotel-to-Neotel SMSes
* Email account
* Internet access up to 2 GB of data
* Cost: R299 per month (~US39)

NeoConnect Lite Unlimited – 156 kbit/s

* 1000 Neotel-to-Neotel voice minutes
* 25 Neotel-to-Neotel SMSes
* Email account
* Unlimited Internet usage
* Cost: R469 per month (~US62)

Note: In South Africa ADSL charges consist of two parts: the ADSL line rental (as shown above), charged over and above the regular analogue phone line rental (R112 / US$16) and an ISP account. The price of an ISP account can vary greatly, ranging from R70 (~US$10) for a 1 GB hardcapped account to R2800 (US$400) for unshaped / uncapped access with a static IP address. Caps of 3 GB, 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB and 30 GB are also available through various ISPs.

ADSL prices in South Africa have been decreasing steadily ever since the service was introduced. Price reductions, mainly as result of competition from mobile network operators, saw Telkom's ADSL subscriber base climb from 50,000 to 100,000 between February and August 2005. [Telkom SA#Criticisms] Despite occasional price reductions, consumer groups such as Hellkom and MyADSL continue to charge that Telkom's ADSL prices are excessive. As of February 2008, Telkom has more than 400,000 ADSL subscribers, with demand still strong.

Commercial Broadband over Power Lines services are imminently to be rolled out in greater Pretoria (municipal region of Tshwane), and may undercut the current ADSL prices by a significant margin. [ [http://www.mybroadband.co.za/nephp/?m=show&id=3440 Broadband over Power Lines here soon and much cheaper than ADSL] ]

Wireless in South Africa

A number of companies offer broadband alternatives. Iburst offer their namesake, while cellular network company Cell C offer GPRS and EDGE, and MTN and Vodacom also offer 3G and up to 7.2 Mbit/s HSDPA. Most are more expensive than ADSL offerings for mid-to-high usage, but can be more cost effective if low usage is required. MTN triggered a mini-price war in late February 2007 with 2GB when buying 1GB. [http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2884&iArticleId=3710444] , with Iburst giving a small "data bonus" only for their contract customers and Sentech also reducing their prices. Vodacom responded with dramatic price cuts of their own on 1 April 2007 after which Cell C reduced prices on their larger offerings to undercut both MTN and Vodacom. South Africa is in the unusual position of having mobile broadband cheaper than its fixed line alternative which remains extremely expensive and exorbitantly priced.

VOIP

Until February 1, 2005, the usage of VOIP outside of company networks was illegal under South African communications law, due to the short-term protection of jobs through ICT legislation. The deregulation was announced by Minister of Communications Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri in September 2004.

World Wide Web in South Africa

The web has played an increasing role in South African media relations.

Politics

The African National Congress, the ruling party in the Parliament, launched its website, anc.org.za in 1997 [http://web.archive.org/web/19970102192947/http://www.anc.org.za/] , making it one of the first African political organizations to establish a presence on the World Wide Web.

Blogs

Numerous blogs have been started in both South Africa and the South African diaspora, some of which, such as Crime Expo South Africa, have been the subject of scrutiny in the international press.

References

Links

* [http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10728 Reporters Without Borders article]
* [http://www.internet.org.za/ Texts of South African laws about the Internet]
* [http://www.ispa.org.za/ Internet Service Providers' Association]
* [http://www.namespace.org.za/ Namespace ZA]
* [http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/default.asp Online magazine about new technology]
* [http://mybroadband.co.za/news/ SA Internet and Broadband News]