Internet in South Africa Information & Internet in South Africa Links at HealthHaven.com

The Internet is expanding in South Africa, which is one of the most technologically-resourced countries 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.

[edit] 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.

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, as well as the availability of the SEACOM cable, which provided an alternative to SAT-3 cable, previously the only international cable, saw Telkom's ADSL subscriber base climb from 50,000 in February 2005 to around 550 000 in July 2009.^[1]^[2] Despite occasional price reductions, consumer groups such as Hellkom and MyADSL continue to charge that Telkom's ADSL prices are excessive.

[edit] 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 with up to 3.6 Mbit/s HSDPA [1] [2] Telkom is offering a 7.2 / 2.4 mbit/s HSDPA / HSUPA service in Gauteng [3]. 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. [4], 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.

[edit] 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 (South Africa) Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri in September 2004.

[edit] Dial up Internet

This is the traditional way to connect to the internet using a modem, or an ISDN T/A. While most users opt for broadband technology, aDSL, 3G, WiMax etc, there are some instances where this infrastructure is not available.

Most travelers or visitors to South Africa also don't want to enter into a contract with an ISP, although that seems to be the norm in South Africa, and use free services like the Hotspots at their hotels / coffee shops or even call billed dialup services like FreeConnect, where users pay for their connection in the form of the phone call charge, unlike 3G/GPRS where users are charged per Mb.

With Telkom SA (National telecoms operator) struggling to meet demand for broadband even in remote and rural areas, dialup is still an important part of Internet in South Africa

[edit] World Wide Web in South Africa

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

[edit] Politics

The African National Congress, the ruling party in the Parliament, launched its website, anc.org.za in 1997 [5], making it one of the first African political organizations to establish a presence on the World Wide Web.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[0] Telkom SA#Criticisms

[1] ttp://mybroadband.co.za/news/ADSL/8639.html

[1]

[2]

Contents