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Telecoms costs to drop 65%2007-05-17 The cost of telecommunications will drop like a stone once Infraco, the new fibreoptic company owned by the state, receives a licence to operate from the communications regulator. Cornelis Groesbeek, an adviser to the department of public enterprises, told MPs yesterday that South Africans currently paid 10 times as much for their broadband access as the world average, and 125 times as much as the level considered to be global best practice. But he expected costs to drop by 65 percent when Infraco gets its licence, and to continue falling by as much as 95 percent within five years. Groesbeek's best guess was that the licensing process at the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) would probably take another 18 months. Members of parliament's portfolio committee on public enterprises were discussing a draft bill that would authorise the government to acquire all the shares in Infraco from Eskom and Transnet. Infraco would then become a stand-alone, state-owned enterprise. Initially, the new communications company will act as an agent for Neotel, the second national operator, but this will change when Infraco gets its licence. Then Infraco will be able to sell access to its network directly to internet service providers. Source: My Broadband |
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