Digital communities offer government an effective way to empower citizens – building upwardly mobile communities with a stake in the future.

“There’s no doubt about it – our nation faces a daunting challenge when it comes to providing a better life for all,” says Dennis Naidoo, general manager: Public Sector at Internet Solutions.

“What’s also become clear is that it can’t do so by providing hand-outs. We have to find ways of giving our citizens the tools they need to take control of their own destinies. We must also take a leaf out the books of countries like Brazil and India, which face similar challenges; there’s no point in reinventing the wheel.”

Naidoo adds that government alone does not have the resources to tackle this mammoth task. The next generation of genuine public-private partnerships
will be the way to access private sector capital and know-how.

So what’s the solution? “In one word – broadband. It’s now clear that access to broadband services can have a dramatic effect on the quality of people’s lives and, perhaps even more importantly, on their participation in the economy,” says Naidoo. He points to the many studies around the world that have shown a distinct correlation between broadband access and gross domestic product (GDP).

For that reason, developed countries such as the United States, Australia and Japan, have strategies to increase the penetration of broadband into their
societies – as do many developing nations. A World Bank study of 120 countries between 1980 and 2006 showed that each 10% of broadband increase in GDP in developed countries, and 1.38% in developing countries.

“If we’re serious about getting 6% growth, then it would be crazy to ignore the multiplier effect that broadband has been proven to have!” enthuses Naidoo.




THE VISION: CREATING A DIGITAL COMMUNITY

Internet Solutions’ view is that providing Internet access through public kiosks and similar places will not achieve these results. “To make the Internet part of people’s lives, to achieve these GDP growth numbers, you need to make it available in the home. Our vision is that all new housing developments should have broadband access laid on, just as water and electricity is,” Naidoo argues.

But how will local government fund such a scheme? The answer is the kind of public-private partnership mentioned earlier. “By sharing risk and rewards, it is quite possible to create a commercially viable model for a new RDP housing development that offers broadband as part of its services,” Naidoo argues.

The diagram above shows how it would work. In terms of this model, the municipality would own the local loop.

Installing the basic infrastructure would require some investment both by the Service Provider and municipality, with the latter accessing national and provincial funds as well. Householders would pay the same sort of installation fee they normally would to Telkom, but this time to the local installation ‘man in a van’, thus helping to create local jobs. The subscription for telephony services would be equivalent to the monthly basic fee charged by Telkom, but would in fact go to the local ICT supplier thereby creating more local jobs. The cost of the device would be paid to the ISP, who will be responsible for delivery.

The householder would then pay for his or her use of the services offered direct to the ISP, with a portion going towards the municipality as owner of the local loop. Because these services (including voice) would be delivered over IP, the call charges would be reduced, and would work out substantially lower than cell phone rates.

“The basic principle is that householders would pay the same amount of money for the basic bouquet of services as they would for an ordinary phone line – and just think of the money they would save through less use of their cell phones, while community would be free as well!” says Naidoo. “Everyone benefits. The municipality gains a new source of revenue plus a way to cut billing costs because clients can be e-mailed, while the council’s rates-base would gradually strengthen as the local GDP increases. Local companies within the ecosystem would benefit directly, while increased economic activity would indirectly benefit other businesses in the area.

The ISP would be able to access a new revenue stream.

“But the real beneficiaries would be the citizens, who gain access to a whole new world of communication tools and commercial opportunities, plus government and other services. Importantly, too, they would gain access to the best education via the Internet, and we all know that education is the missing key to the puzzle for us as a country.

“This technology is mature and all we need is a willingness to enter into a dialogue with each other about this model, for which we are building a detailed business case. It’s all about empowering our fellow citizens to build better lives for themselves,” Naidoo concludes.

C O N T A C T

Dennis Naidoo
GM: Public Sector, Internet Solutions

Tel: 011 575 1000
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.is.co.za