The latest statistics from Ookla’s broadband value index shows that South Africa is still far away from its broadband price targets.
The recent Ookla report shows that the cost of a broadband connection is 12% of South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. This is significantly higher than the planned 2.5% as stated in the country’s broadband policy.
On 6 December the Minister of Communications Yunus Carrim gazetted a new broadband policy for South Africa.
The policy and its associated strategy and plan – dubbed “South Africa Connect” – outlines a number of activities to improve broadband in South Africa.
The overall vision of the policy is to give every South African access to a broadband connection at a cost of 2.5% or less of the average monthly income so the report tells us that there is still a long way to go before this is reality.
The report ranked South Africa at number 58 out of 64 countries for the relative cost of broadband which was calculated to be $57.17 per month per person (i.e. the mean broadband subscription cost divided by the Gross Domestic Product per Capita).
This means that broadband access is still relatively expensive in South Africa – both in terms of international standards and local affordability.
