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[In The Know]
SA's telecoms stumbling block?
Author:
Bandile Sikwane
Issued:
27 Mar 2008
"Government meddling" blamed for slowing economic growth
GOVERNMENT'S "continued med-dling in the telecommunication sector" is stifling the country's economic growth, says Steve Song, a telecommunications fellow at the Shuttleworth Foundation. Speaking in an interview, Song said: "If the government lets competition flourish and stops protecting state entities, then broadband will flourish in SA, stimulating the economy." He also pointed to slow telecoms regulatory processes as stumbling blocks in the way of economic growth. These sentiments were echoed at the recent ITWeb IT Confidence event, where the chief economist at Investment Solutions, Chris Hart, noted: "One of the ways to fight inflation is to introduce competition. "When free markets want to create employment they move away from monopolies such as the one currently experienced in SA's telecommunications market," he said. Government needs to change its thinking if it wants to address the situation, which has been aggravated by the power outages, he added.
Your comments
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TRACY BURROWS
MARTIN CZERNOWALOW
Government involvement in broadband CAN be beneficial - just look at Korea. However, it takes vision and commitment. Poison Ivy is one of three of Mbeki's token women cabinet ministers who are incompetent and should be replaced immediately. The Minister of Communications should at least not be a complete technophobe.
By Pro Progress ... 3/27/2008