The excruciatingly slow average speed of internet in South Africa must be the most frustrating thing about being online.
The excruciatingly slow average speed of internet in South Africa must be the most frustrating thing about being online.
It has also affected economic growth and employment, says DA Shadow Minister of Communications, Marian Shinn, in a recent statement.
“The high cost, lack of access and slow connectivity hampers economic growth and job creation,” Shinn said.
She pointed out that the World Bank identified broadband connectivity as “a key catalyst for economic growth” and that every 10% increase in connectivity enables a 1.38% growth in Gross Domestic Product.
According to global network services company, Akamai’s first quarter 2013 report about the state of the internet in SA, we ranked 80th in the world average internet connection speed.
The report ranked SA’s average peak connection speed as low as number 126.
This means the country has the lowest average connection speed of all the European, Middle-Eastern and African countries in Akamai’s survey.
The first internet connection between Sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world was installed in Grahamstown, at Rhodes University.
Rhodes has one of the highest connectivity speeds in the country, but the rest of SA ranked a poor 69th when it comes to the average speed of broadband connectivity in the world.
Only 8% of broadband users were able to achieve speeds higher than 4 megabits per second (Mbps), which compares poorly with the global average of 46%.
Leader Switzerland scored a thumping 88%.
SA is one of the most expensive places in the world to access the internet from, and it’s way behind countries with far worse infrastructure.
Internet guru Arthur Goldstuck says this is because the government has made no progress in licensing high-speed access technologies and it hasn’t allowed other service providers to access Telkom-controlled exchanges.
“The result? Mobile broadband speeds are kept artificially low, and fixed-line broadband are confined to a single, monopoly provider,” explained Goldstuck.
Guy Halse, the manager of IT systems at Rhodes, didn’t find the results of the Akamai report surprising.
“South Africa has a long history of over-regulating the telecom sector and protecting the incumbent monopoly. This has stifled innovation and development, and has likely inflated or artificially maintained high costs of connectivity,” Halse said.
