SPECTRUM ALLOCATION WILL COME WITH SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND OBLIGATIONS TO ENSURE BUSINESSES ARE CONNECTED

Information is without doubt one of today's most vital resource. The availability of information and the capacity to obtain it shouldn't be mistaken as one and the same thing. The arrival of technology advancement such as the internet has made access easier and availability more apparent. However, the internet penetration into the African market in general remains particularly low, and South Africa isn't exempted form the list. In South Africa, access to the internet should be considered a basic human right. The need to communicate and access the internet has in recent years increasingly become a human right as more basic services including but not limited to: education, the need to move (in the form of transportation), and in some instances for food and clothing where platforms such as Jumia offer such services has increased exponentially. It is for this very reason that the country’s laws should now be amended to reflect this importance, and for governments across Africa to allocate spectrum so as to connect its citizens to realize social responsibilities attached to internet connectivity, and eventually entrepreneurship and development.

? Jumia, the leading pan-African e-commerce platform active in six regions in Africa, consists of 14 countries where in South Africa it operates as Zando. The platform acts as a marketplace, which connects suppliers with consumers, logistics services, which enables the shipment and delivery of packages from suppliers to consumers. It also includes payment services, which facilitates transactions among participants active on the platform in selected markets. Its main mission is to improve the quality of everyday life persons in Africa by leveraging technology to deliver innovative, convenient and affordable online services to consumers, while helping businesses grow as they use our platform to reach and serve consumers. This is important as it ultimately connects with the South African’s government’s move to increase internet connectivity and availability.

It needs to be stated that In South Africa for instance, it is the wealthy and those in urban areas that control their access to the internet, which is easily available to them, the poor on the contrary, which make up the majority of the population, have to resort to disproportionately high rates for data to access the internet. Moving further, the less privilege pay higher costs because they cannot afford to pay for data in bulk such as monthly subscriptions or obtain optical fiber systems, meanwhile those who are better off could do so in terms of data contracts or fixed ADSL and fiber lines. The logic here wants that, if you pay more you get it at a cheaper rate, but that logic fundamentally violates human rights on a large scale in a society like south Africa which is heterogeneous.

Government promises to give every South African 10GB of free data a month

In her response to the President’s state of the nation address in February, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says that every South African will be given access to the internet as a core utility. Ntshavheni further stated that advancements in technology such as 5G and the planned release of valuable data spectrum will lead to the government offering ‘prescribed minimum data’ to households. “Data has become a new utility like water and electricity that our home needs. At some point, a South African household, despite whether they are rich or poor, will be given access to 10GB per month, because that is what the government will deliver,” she said.

The government has previously mooted giving free basic data to low-income users, similar to the stipends that it currently offered for water and electricity, in a national infrastructure plan published by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) in August 2021. The plan also states that high-speed broadband will be available and accessible in every community by 2023/24. If the country was serious about driving equality, the provision of spectrum and data to all South Africans would have been realized as announced by the Minister, this would therefore mean that many fundamental human rights would be perceived, and that people would then have equal access to data in order to access the internet or communicate. Similar points were raised by civil rights group “Right To Know” (R2K) during its presentation to the Data Services Market Inquiry.

R2K’s submission highlighted how the cost of communication in South Africa was undermining people’s basic rights to access and share information – their right to communicate.

“As always, it is the poorest of the poor who are hurt the most,” the report concluded.?

?R2K maintains that the high cost of communication in South Africa is directly linked to systemic failures of policy and implementation by the government, and lack of regulation and competition in the telecommunications industry. The organisation added that South Africa has one of the most expensive data prices in the world – even when adjusted for cost of living. To put this into perspective, India only charges R11 for 1GB, Nigeria charges R22, Ghana R71, Russia R24 and Vodacom in Tanzania charges R98 for 1GB but R149 in South Africa. South Africa has the second highest data contract prices compared to other BRICS-member countries (namely Brazil, China, India, Russia). Even at R99, Telkom has not managed to exert price pressure on MTN and Vodacom. This cuts out almost half of South Africans who are unable to afford the high price points of these major players.

?The world is evidently increasingly moving into a digital space, the marginalized will be further left behind if they are unable to afford access to the internet and information. It goes without doubt to assert that when a community isn't interconnected or given easy access to information, she remains in inertia. Also, this could go a long way to intensify social inequality and violation of basic human rights as the case of South Africa. Will the country be able to put in place policies which can considerately reduce data cost despite government subsidies? This situation is quite challenging as South African based telecommunication companies such as MTN offers similar services for far cheaper prices in other African Nations, not to mention Cameroon which pays as low as R3 for 2GB of data. The South African telecommunication industries must not only reduce cost per say, but ensure that their reduce are sustainable and works for the numerous poor societies.

Siyanda Makhubo is the Group Public Relations and Communications Manager for Jumia since December?2021. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, Law and Sociology, an Honours Degree in Marketing and Communications, a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration and is currently studying for an MBA with the University of the Witswatersrand.

He has more than seven years of professional experience in Communication, Risk and Reputation, Crisis Communication and PR Advocacy both in the Public and Private sectors. His interests lie in the subject of utilizing the PR and Communications system for social justice.?