TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Moves afoot to fix Eskom’s debt problem

      4 July 2022

      Audi South Africa to offer free connectivity upgrades

      4 July 2022

      Shock fuel price increase announced

      4 July 2022

      Wiocc’s data centre business, OADC, appoints CEO

      4 July 2022

      Google’s Equiano cable lands in Namibia

      3 July 2022
    • World

      Tether fails to calm jittery nerves

      4 July 2022

      EU to impose wide-ranging new rules on the crypto industry

      3 July 2022

      Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows files for bankruptcy

      3 July 2022

      Meta girds for ‘fierce’ headwinds

      1 July 2022

      Graphics card prices plummet as crypto demand dries up

      30 June 2022
    • In-depth

      The NFT party is over

      30 June 2022

      The great crypto crash: the fallout, and what happens next

      22 June 2022

      Goodbye, Internet Explorer – you really won’t be missed

      19 June 2022

      Oracle’s database dominance threatened by rise of cloud-first rivals

      13 June 2022

      Everything Apple announced at WWDC – in less than 500 words

      7 June 2022
    • Podcasts

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E06 – ‘Apple Silicon’

      15 June 2022

      The youth might just save us

      15 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E05 – ‘Nvidia: The Green Goblin’

      8 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E04 – ‘The story of Intel – part 2’

      1 June 2022
    • Opinion

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»News»Internet access in SA: rural areas falling far behind

    Internet access in SA: rural areas falling far behind

    News By Duncan McLeod19 July 2017
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Reshaad Sha

    [dropcap]I[/dropcap]nternet penetration has reached 75% of the population in the Western Cape and 54.7% in Gauteng, but other, more rural provinces have fallen far behind, new research from World Wide Worx shows.

    The company’s Internet Access in South Africa 2017 study, conducted in partnership with open-access fibre provider Dark Fibre Africa (DFA), shows just 25.2% of people in the Eastern Cape have Internet access.

    Mpumalanga, North West and the Northern Cape don’t fare much better, with the numbers in those provinces at 26.5%, 32.1% and 32.9% respectively.

    It is critical that the country prioritise the roll-out of infrastructure in underserved areas, especially outside the major metropolitan areas

    KwaZulu-Natal is placed third behind Gauteng at 39.2%, followed by the Free State (36.1%) and the Northern Cape (32.9%).

    According to DFA chief strategy officer Reshaad Sha, the clearest divide is revealed in income disparity.
    Among adult South Africans earning more than R30 000/month, Internet penetration is at 82.4%. Penetration declines rapidly as income declines, falling to 61.3% for those earning between R14 000 and R18 000/month, 42% for those earning between R3 000 and R6 000/month, and below 30% for those earning below R2 500/month.

    Education is also a barrier to Internet access, with less than 20% access among all segments that have below grade 7 education. Fewer than 40% of those with less than a grade 11 education have Internet access. For those with a post-matric qualification, the average is 71.6%.

    Internet penetration

    Encouragingly, the World Wide Worx study shows that the South African Internet user population passed the 20m mark for the first time last year, reaching 21m, and is expected to grow to at least 22.5m in 2017.

    Based on Statistics South Africa’s estimate that the South African population reached 55.9m people in June 2016, this means that the country will reach the 40% Internet penetration mark this year, the researchers said.

    Finally reaching the point where we can say every second adult South African is connected to the Internet is a major landmark

    “Finally reaching the point where we can say every second adult South African is connected to the Internet is a major landmark, because Internet access is becoming synonymous with economic access,” said Sha. “For this reason, it is critical that the country prioritise the roll-out of infrastructure in underserved areas, especially outside the major metropolitan areas.”

    Most South Africans connect to the Internet exclusively using mobile technologies. But Sha believes there is room for fixed lines to grow, particularly as consumers realise the potential to use fibre access to displace other services, such as pay television subscriptions, to make it more affordable.

    The report reveals that the single most common use of the Internet among South African adults is communication, reported by 31% of respondents, followed by social networking (24.9%) and information (23.7%). Only then comes entertainment at 22.1%.

    Arthur Goldstuck

    The report includes data from the Target Group Index (TGI) survey conducted by Ask Afrika. World Wide Worx collaborates with Ask Afrika in the structuring of e-commerce, digital, and electronics components of the TGI, which comprises 15 000 interviews across a range of consumer topics and behaviours.

    The question on primary uses of the Internet was answered by a sample representing 4.1m South African adults across all income and education levels.

    Barriers

    While communication is the single most important use, e-mail is reported by only 16.1% of respondents, indicating that it is becoming a less important element of the communications mix as social media becomes a default channel.

    Shopping and finance is cited by only 15.2% of respondents, confirming previous research that showed e-commerce was still not a major element of South African retail in general.

    “Over time, we will see higher proportions of people engaging in a wider range of activity, but the barriers to more active use will first have to come down,” said World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck. — (c) 2017 NewsCentral Media

    Arthur Goldstuck Ask Afrika Reshaad Sha top World Wide Worx
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleChina cracks down on WhatsApp
    Next Article Google search to get ‘social’ overhaul

    Related Posts

    Moves afoot to fix Eskom’s debt problem

    4 July 2022

    Audi South Africa to offer free connectivity upgrades

    4 July 2022

    Shock fuel price increase announced

    4 July 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    The MSP value proposition has evolved – here’s why it matters

    4 July 2022

    Presenting the cloud finance in South Africa survey with AWCape and Sage

    4 July 2022

    The Equiano cable has landed

    4 July 2022
    Opinion

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

    21 June 2022

    Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

    13 June 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.