Recently appointed communications minister Yunus Carrim has reiterated deadlines for dealing with the most pressing issues facing the South African technology sector, including digital migration, spectrum allocation and finalising government’s broadband policy.
Moreover, he says with the right groundwork in place it won’t matter if he’s redeployed after next year’s election.
“I have no culture of entitlement,” Carrim says. “The greater concern is not who gets there but what we do between now and April.”
Carrim says the media has suggested that he is “some knight in shining armour”, but that this was not the case. “The fact of the matter is, I am collectively accountable for where the [department of communications ] is.”
The minister says he intends to make himself available to the media “every six weeks to assess what we’ve achieved and what we haven’t and why”.
Carrim says the “digital revolution” is “changing very fabric of our society” but that it’s important the poor are not left behind.
“The Internet presents a great opportunity for government to provide services to citizens,” Carrim says. “We must reduce, not increase, divides. We have made some progress, but not enough. We are lagging behind our peers.”
Before next year’s election, Carrim says his department wants to focus on “locating ICT in the national development plan and broader policies of the majority party”; stabilising the department of communications and filling empty posts; creating a “less fragmented and fractious” ICT environment; setting “realistic and realisable goals” between now and April; and finalising government’s ICT policy review.
Carrim says it’s also crucial that government delivers on its broadband promises, makes spectrum available, and fast-tracks migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television.
He’s promised the finalisation of government’s broadband policy by end of November and says his department wants to have an “effective spectrum policy related to broadband” before March next year.
On digital migration, Carrim says “government is responsible in good measure for the delays”.
“But now we’re ready to move,” he says. “What’s holding us up are key private sector stakeholders and the broadcasters who have been fighting about the control mechanisms in set-top boxes.”
Carrim says his department is bringing all stakeholders together in September to “secure consensus”. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
