Communications in South Africa

Encyclopedia : C : CO : COM : Communications in South Africa

Contents

1 Telephone
2 Radio
3 Television
4 Internet
5 See also
6 External links

Telephone

Telephones - main lines in use:

4.844 million(2002)

over 5 million (2001)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

18.0 million (2004) provided by three GSM networks, Vodacom [link], MTN South Africa [link] and Cell C [link]. MTN and Vodacom also support the UMTS 3G standard with Cell C expected to join them before the end of 2005.

Telephone system:

the landline system provided by Telkom [link] (which currently has a government-granted monopoly on land-lines) is the best developed and most modern in Africa

domestic:

consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay links, fiber-optic cable, radiotelephone communication stations, and wireless local loops; key centers are Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, and Pretoria.

international:

2 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean)

Radio

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 14, FM 347 (plus 243 repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998)

Radios:

17 million (2001)

Television

Television broadcast stations:

556 (plus 144 network repeaters) (1997)(unknown source, only 4 available to public, SABC 1,2,3 and eTV)

Televisions:

6 million (2000)

Internet

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

150 (2001)

Internet hosts:

288,633 (2003)

Internet users:

3.1 million (2002)

Broadband Internet: Although expensive compared to more developed nations, broadband is easily obtainable in South Africa. Fixed line options such as ADSL, ISDN, Diginet and Leased Lines are available from the national operator Telkom. Wireless options are available from Sentech[link],iBurst[link], Vodacom [link], MTN as well as Telkom. The third cellular operator Cell C is expected to launch an internet service near the end of 2005. Satellite options are available from both Sentech and Telkom.

Wireless options start from R469 p/m on a 3GB cap ($70 - July 2005) while a more expensive 512 kbit/s ADSL connection on a 30GB cap would cost R900 ($135) or more depending on the provider used. Currently most of the wireless solutions are only available in major urban centres.

Second National Operator (SNO): A SNO is in the process of being licensed in South Africa, though the process so far has been rather slow and full of delays. It is expected that the SNO will be able to commence operations before the end of 2005 and that telecommunication costs in South Africa will drop once competition is introduced into the market. The bidding process was completed in early 2005 with Indian company Tata Africa taking the remaining 26% of the share. Other shareholders include state owned companies Eskom Telecommunication and Transtel jointly with 30%, Nexus Connexion with 19% and Communitel and Two Consortium with 12.5% each. The shareholders will control a new company called SepCo who in turn will control the still unnamed SNO.

External links