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Over R60 billion to bring broadband to everyone
2012-02-13
Communications minister Dina Pule asserts that industry guesstimates suggest that it'll cost somewhere between R60 bln and R89 bln to roll out broadband to all voters of SA. The Dep. of Communications ( DoC ) has set a target to supply 100 percent broadband penetration in SA by 2020, and Pule reaffirmed her Dept's dedication to reach this target. This can however be easier to say than to do. The enormous capital investment required to reach this target and the sheer scale of this project means, that even with the minister's public-private partnership recommendation, it is still aspiring. Pule explained the DoC hasn't done their own studies to guess the price of a countrywide broadband rollout, but asserted that some industry players had researched the problem and their observations show the cost will be somewhere between R60 bn. and R89 bn.. Pule indicated this investment will not just aid in getting South Africans connected, but will also create around two hundred thousand roles. According to Pule the implementation of a nationwide broadband network will create an approximate 160,000 new roles. The extra labour force wanted to maintain this network will bring the total roles figure to roughly two hundred thousand, declared Pule.
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