Communicate Blog

A report on investment constraint had identified high telecommunication costs as one of the key obstacles to domestic and foreign investment in South Africa. It is therefore encouraging to note that the growth of broadband internet has led to the installation of fibre connections in certain locations. Currently fibre to the premises (FTTX) have been implemented in some upmarket-gated villages and office parks but it will be some time before it enters the traditional neighbourhoods and older office blocks. While South African telecommunications companies do have fibre to the home (FTTH) in development, the cost of implementation is the largest limiting factor.

During a conference earlier in the year CEO of Dark Fibre Africa, Gustav Smit highlighted some of the problems holding back fibre roll-outs in South Africa, including fibre-to-the-home (FTTH).

Not enough competition in terrestrial backhaul / inter-city networks

One such problem according to Smit, is the pricing on the terrestrial backbone – the links that transmit data between various important points within South Africa. This includes the links connecting Johannesburg to undersea cable landing stations on the coast, for example.

There are options available for terrestrial and inter-city backhaul, but not enough to have competitive pricing, Smit said.

Bureaucratic issues

Another problem is the fact that city councils and provincial and national road owners are controlling fibre roll-out, Smit said. Way leaves and permits can take six to nine months to get, he added. Smit said that this costs the industry and the country dearly.

Solving this will require the assistance of the Department of Communications, as well as co-operation between industry players, Smit said.

However, Cape Town is well on its way to becoming the silicon hub of Africa with several private companies and the council installing hundreds of kilometres of fibre-optic cables in the city.

While the long-term impact of fibre optics is presently unknown, broadband internet is having positive effects on short-term profitability in Africa. The FIFA World Cup held in South Africa used SEACOM cables to deliver optimum communication to the rest of the world.

Also in the IT employment sector fibre optics and faster broadband speeds are playing a part as a recent report released by CareerJunction indicated that Software developers are in high demand, with a particular shortage of suitably qualified and experienced programmers. This is a clear indication that South Africa has huge potential for innovation in the IT industry if we can manage to get the right infrastructure in place.

If you are looking for high demand skills like programmers or software developers contact Communicate Personnel. We are a specialist IT recruitment agency that will find you the right person for the job.