PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO: 229
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 4 June 2010
QUESTION PAPER NO: 15
DATE OF REPLY: June 2010
Mr O de Beer (COPE-WC) to ask the Minister of Communications:
Whether the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa is
fulfilling its mandate, especially in the neglected rural areas; if not,
why not; if so, (a) what has been done so far to avail digital
communication access to people in rural areas, (b) what percentage of our
countryâs rural areas have been accommodated and (c) which new areas were
being targeted for the supply of services during the balance of this year?
CW300E
Reply:
The mandate of the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa
(USAASA) is to ensure that all communities and persons in South Africa and
in the under-serviced areas - be they rural or urban, have access to
Information and Communication Technology services.
The Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005 ( The ECA) mandates USAASA to
manage and utilize the Universal Service and Access Fund for the payment of
grants or subsidies for the establishment of centres where the electronic
communications services will be offered or subsidies for the extension of
Electronic Communication Network services to where there are none.
The ECA further mandates the Agency to advise the Minister of
Communications and the Regulator on matters relating to Universal Service
and Access.
a) In pursuit of its mandate, the Agency embarked on four different
programmes:
1. Deployment of Community ICT Access Centres ( Telecentres)
USAASA has since deployed one-hundred and fifty-six (156)
community access centres situated in various provinces. Due to
the nature and short life span of the ICT equipment, equipment
at these centres had to be renewed to improve operations.
Through these centres, communities can access the following
services:
⢠Word Processing
⢠Printing services
⢠Photocopying
⢠Internet & E mail services
⢠Telephone services (at some centres)
⢠Scanning facility (at some centres)
2. Deployment of Computer Laboratories at Schools
The total number of school computer laboratories is two-hundred
and seventy-four (274). Each school has an average of thirty-
five (35) computers depending on the size of the room, a copier
machine and a printer. The renewed centres have a digital
whiteboard as well. However, it is acknowledged that the number
of computers deployed is still far less than the numbers of
learners in a class and extremely low as compared to the number
of learners at a school. USAASA and the Department of
Communications are in a collaboration project to accelerate the
deployment of computers and connectivity at schools targeting
deployment in atleast three-thousand (3000) schools.
3. Deployment of Telecommunication Infrastructure
USAASA has in the past funded the SMME companies that were
licensed by ICASA to deploy telecommunication infrastructure in
under-services areas (the Under-Serviced Area Licensees called
USALs). These USALs were licensed to operate at District level.
The operations of these SMMEâs collapse due to a variety of
issues, albeit their success was in rallying MNOâs to provide
services for the very same areas. USAASA, together with the DoC
are reviewing the USAL model with the intention of looking at
how best to empower these entities to deliver further value to
these under serviced areas in addition to growing and
diversifying the market.
4. Research Programmes
The Agency conducted research to evaluate the impact of the
Telecommunications Act 105 of 1996 with the intention of
advising the Minister and the policy-making process as it
adjusted policy with particular relevance to universal service
and access. Such information was taken into account during the
drafting of the electronic communications Act 36 of 2005 and
forms part of the EC Act as it stands.
Further to that, research was conducted to evaluate the
feasibility of the business case of the USALs. The report was
shared with all the relevant stakeholders. However, the change
in the landscape within the sector such as provision of VoIP by
all operators, enactment of the ECA that removed any form of
exclusivity arrangement for operators, completely changed the
business case of USALs, hence the impetus to explore feasible
operational models.
b) Percentage of rural areas covered
It would be misleading to indicate the percentage achievement of
universal service and access under the old declaration of under-
serviced areas that considered only fixed telephony on matters of
universality, given the realities of mobile voice and data services
and broadband. It is for this reason that USAASA has undertaken to
review the definition of under-serviced areas, the universal service
and universal access and further proposed that the under-serviced
areas be declared at a local municipality level or lower rather than
at district level. The process of definitions proposes a bucket of
minimum services that must be accessible in an area that is not under-
serviced. We are pleased to indicate to the house that the Minister of
Communications has gazetted USAASAâs work in this regard allowing us
to get a true reflection of universal service and access as it relates
to technological advancement and to the spirit of the ECA. The process
of declaring the under-serviced areas under the converged ICT sector
is currently underway at ICASA and should find pronouncement in the
near future. We would then be able to define percentage of areas
covered.
c) Areas that are being targeted for the supply of services during the
balance of this year?
There are several areas of intervention that USAASA has planned for
the rest of this financial year.
On policy matters, once ICASA has declared the under-serviced areas,
USAASA will embark on a process of costing how much the country is
likely to require to rollout ICT services as defined by the in all the
under-serviced areas. Such costing will then determine how long will
it take for South Africa to be able to service all communities
depending on the availability of funds. This costing will be
accompanied by a comprehensive strategy of how to coordinate
activities that address Universal service and access in the country
and how to prioritise interventions. This will take into account best
practices. The process will include the development of monitoring and
evaluation framework. Parallel to the Universal service and access
strategy formulation will be the development of a manual that serves
as a guideline on how to access the Universal Service and Access Fund
and the processes and procedures thereof. The development of a
competitive bidding framework will be developed in consultation with
ICASA as per the provision of the Electronic Communication Act 36 of
2005 and will serve as a mechanism to accelerate the process of
rollout of Broadband in the under-serviced areas.
On deployment of infrastructure:
USAASA is guided by the Department of Communicationâs prioritised
Provinces, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. The approach will be
to focus on one province for this year to have a visible impact. The
key projects will be:
a) Broadband Infrastructure
Three municipalities will be targeted in line with the new
definition of under-serviced areas within this financial year. The
type of infrastructure will be determined by the best solution for
the area. Public entities will be the critical end- users for
sustainability of the infrastructure.
b) Deployment of public access points
The Agency will deploy 100 public access centres for ICT services.
The size of the centres will be determined by the size of the
community they serve. This project will be linked to the Broadband
infrastructure so that whenever there is coverage then access is
also addressed.
c) Broadcasting Digital Migration
This project will be the first of its kind that the Agency has ever
undertaken. The aim is to subsidise the procurement of set-top
boxes. These are the modems that will be used to access the digital
signal of television. The areas of prioritization will be
determined by Sentechâs rollout of the signal.
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