The Internet in South Africa, one of the most technologically resourced countries on the
African continent
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, is expanding. The Internet
country code top-level domain
A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all t ...
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
by the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is an American multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespaces ...
(ICANN) in 1990. Over 60% of
Internet traffic
Internet traffic is the flow of data within the entire Internet, or in certain network links of its constituent networks. Common traffic measurements are total volume, in units of multiples of the byte, or as transmission rates in bytes per cert ...
generated on the African continent originates from South Africa. As of 2020, 41.5 million people (70.00% of the total population) were Internet users.
History
The first South African
IP address
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...
was granted to
Rhodes University
Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...
in 1988. On 12 November 1991, the first IP connection was made between Rhodes' computing centre and the home of
Randy Bush
Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of the ...
in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
. By November 1991, South African universities were connected through UNINET to the Internet. Commercial Internet access for businesses and private use began in June 1992 with the registration of the firs .co.za subdomain The
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
, South Africa's governing political party, launched its website, , in 1997, making it one of the first African political organizations to establish an Internet presence; around the same time, the
Freedom Front Plus
The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus; af, Vryheidsfront Plus, ''VF Plus'') is a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed (as the Freedom Front) in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald. Its current stated policy positions include ab ...
() registered .
Statistics
The Internet user base in South Africa increased from 2.4 million (5.35%) in 2000, to 5 million (8.43%) in 2008, to 12.3 million (41%) in 2012, and 29.3 million in 2016.''The New Wave: Who connects to the Internet in South Africa, how they connect and what they do when they connect'' Indra de Lanerolle, design by Garage East, University of Witwatersrand, 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2013. This represented 54.00% of the South African population in 2016. This is the highest penetration for all African countries second to Morocco (58.27%), is well above the figure of 19.9% for Africa as a whole, and is comparable with the figure of 39.0% for developing countries worldwide.
The total number of
wireless broadband
Wireless broadband is telecommunications technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area. The term comprises both fixed and mobile broadband.
The term broadband
Originally the word "b ...
subscribers overtook that of
fixed line
A landline (land line, land-line, main line, home phone, fixed-line, and wireline) is a telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber telephone line for transmission, as distinguished from a mobile cellular network, which uses ...
broadband subscribers in South Africa during 2007. In 2012, there were 1.1 million fixed line broadband subscribers"Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012" Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE,
International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...
. Retrieved on 29 June 2013. and 12.7 million wireless broadband subscribers."Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012" Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE,
International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...
. Retrieved on 29 June 2013.
South Africa's total international
bandwidth
Bandwidth commonly refers to:
* Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range
* Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...
reached the 10 Gbit/s mark during 2008, and its continued increase is being driven primarily by the uptake of
broadband
In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...
and lowering of tariffs. Three new
submarine cable Submarine cable is any electrical cable that is laid on the seabed, although the term is often extended to encompass cables laid on the bottom of large freshwater bodies of water.
Examples include:
*Submarine communications cable
*Submarine power ...
projects have brought more capacity to South Africa from 2009—the SEACOM cable entered service in June 2009, the
EASSy
The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) is an undersea fibre optic cable system connecting countries in Eastern Africa to the rest of the world.
EASSy runs from Mtunzini in South Africa to Port Sudan in Sudan, with landing points in ...
cable in July 2010, and the WACS cable in May 2012. Additional international cable systems have been proposed or are under construction (for details see
active and proposed cable systems
Active may refer to:
Music
* ''Active'' (album), a 1992 album by Casiopea
* Active Records, a record label
Ships
* ''Active'' (ship), several commercial ships by that name
* HMS ''Active'', the name of various ships of the British Royal ...
below).
Broadband
Dial up Internet
Dial-up
Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telepho ...
subscribers are migrating to broadband, and then escalating to higher-bandwidth packages as they become available.
However, broadband technologies are not universally available and many customers still connect to the Internet using a dial-up
modem
A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by Modulation#Digital modulati ...
or an
ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitalised circuits of the public switched telephone network. Wo ...
T/A connection.
There was also BelTel - a (mostly business) service available via subscription. It could be used via Minitel terminals, and gave access to banking services, Telkom directory services, and local chat groups.
ADSL
The First true ADSL Solutiion for Consumers was branded "Turbo Access". Turbo Access was a Tender awarded to Africa Data Holdings. Solutioins ranged from a Basic Rate Liine (2 x 64-kbit/s
B channel
{{for, Indonesian television network formerly known as B-Channel, RTV (Indonesian TV network)
B channel (bearer) is a telecommunications term which refers to the ISDN channel in which the primary data or voice communication is carried. It has a ...
s and one 16-kbit/s
D channel
D channel (delta channel) is a telecommunications term which refers to the ISDN channel in which the control and signalling information is carried.
The bit rate of the D channel of a basic rate interface is 16 kbit/s, whereas it amounts to 64 k ...
). Most home users had a 64kbit/s Internet connection, utilising the second B Channel for telephony. Larger businesses took advantage of Primary Rate ISDN (The T1 line consists of 23 bearer (B) channels and one data (D) channel for control purposes) for common needs like switchbaords and Fax solutions. The ISDN Terminal Adapters were all supplied by Eicon Networks Corporation which was bought by
Dialogic Corp
Dialogic is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, United States, with operations in over 25 countries. Dialogic provides a cloud-optimized communications technology for real-time communications med ...
. This was the very first introduction of "Broadband" into South Africa, and a platform for growth. Utilising ISDN, WAN Africa Data Holdings (later dissolved into the Converge Grioup) inroduced (at the time), many revolutionary solutions like fax, Unified Messaging (email, fax,voicemail), Remote Access Service (RAS), and Voice over IP.
In late 2009, Telkom began trialling 8 and 12 Mbit/s ADSL offerings. In August 2010, Telkom officially introduced ADSL at 10 Mbit/s. More than 20,000 4Mbit/s subscribers were upgraded free of charge. As of October 2018, fixed line DSL speeds on offer range between 2 Mbit/s to 40 Mbit/s.
ADSL Pricing
ADSL prices in South Africa have been decreasing steadily since the service was introduced, mainly as result of competition from mobile network operators, but also due to the landing of the SEACOM cable. Previously the sole undersea cable to land in South Africa was the Telkom-operated SAT-3. Telkom's own ADSL subscriber base climbed from 58,532 in February 2005 to around 548,015 in July 2009. ADSL broadband prices began to drop significantly when
Afrihost
Afrihost is a South African Internet Service Provider (ISP) providing a number of services, including ADSL broadband, fibre, fixed wireless, mobile services and web hosting. A proposed merger with Cool Ideas, another ISP, has been approved by ...
entered the market at R29 ($) per gigabyte in August 2009, forcing other ISPs to lower their prices. Since then, thanks to more ISPs entering the market, the price for data has decreased – in February 2014, Webafrica started offering ADSL from R1.50 ($) per GB. However, relative to developed markets, ADSL prices in South Africa still remain among the highest in the world which has prompted consumer groups such as
Hellkom
Hellkom is an Internet parody site about Telkom, South Africa's telecommunications monopoly. It was started by Gregg Stirton in June 2004 as a protest to the parastatal's excessive pricing for its services. In April 2009, Stirton started a discu ...
and
MyADSL
MyBroadband is South Africa's largest technology news website which was started in 2003 as a consumer advocacy forum to address broadband problems which existed in the country at the time.
Since then, the website has grown into an IT news publicat ...
to charge that Telkom's ADSL prices are excessive. In terms of speed, a report by Akamai, ''The State of the Internet'' for 2010, showed that South Africa was one of 86 countries which had an average connection speed below 1 Mbit/s, which is below the global average broadband threshold of 2 Mbit/s.
Fibre to the home (FTTH)
Currently, deployed fibre technology is predominantly by
GPON
G.984,
commonly known as GPON (gigabit-capable passive optical network), is a standard for passive optical networks (PON) published by the ITU-T. It is commonly used to implement the outermost link to the customer (last kilometre or last mile) o ...
is
Openserve
Telkom SA SOC Limited is a South African wireline and wireless telecommunications provider, operating in more than 38 countries across the African continent. Telkom is majority state-owned (55.3%) with the South African government owning 40 ...
,
Vumatel
Vumatel is a South African Licensed Infrastructure service provider, installing FTTH infrastructure throughout South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bo ...
, Frogfoot networks and Octotel. There is no central coordinating authority; as a result many high income areas are over-served by multiple providers
There are also about a dozen other small providers rolling out mostly to gated estates and neighbourhoods. These networks are open access wholesale last mile networks meaning that you have to purchase a package from an
internet service provider
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...
(ISP) such as Vox, Webafrica, Axxess, or Telkom (Openserve). Speeds range from 10/10 Mbit/s to 1000/1000 Mbit/s. A 100/50 Mbit/s plan will cost R799 to R999 (US$ to $) depending on providers available in area and size of data package. A unlimited full Gigabit plan will cost around R1700 ($) so prices are still reasonable compared to other countries with FTTH.
Fibre Pricing
There are over 15 fibre networks in South Africa and the pricing is not standardised across all networks for the same packages in terms of speed and data allowance.
The three biggest fibre networks in South Africa has the following ''average'' pricing for ''50Mbit/s Uncapped'' according to the popular fibre and LTE price comparison website FibreTiger.co.za
Wireless
There is a distinction between
wireless broadband
Wireless broadband is telecommunications technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area. The term comprises both fixed and mobile broadband.
The term broadband
Originally the word "b ...
and
mobile broadband
Mobile broadband is the marketing term for Wireless broadband, wireless Internet access via mobile networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a Tablet computer, tablet/smartphone (possibly Tetherin ...
, the local GSM operators (and their surrogates) provide
GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such as ...
(up to LTE) broadband.
A number of companies offer broadband alternatives.
Iburst
IEEE 802.20 or Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) was a specification by the standard association of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for mobile broadband networks. The main standard was published in 2008. MBW ...
offer their namesake, while cellular network company
GPRS
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a packet oriented mobile data standard on the 2G and 3G cellular communication network's global system for mobile communications (GSM). GPRS was established by European Telecommunications Standards Insti ...
and
EDGE
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
Vodacom
Vodacom Group Limited is a South-Western African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include n ...
also offer 3G with up to 21.1 Mbit/s HSDPA+. Telkom offers a 7.2/2.4 Mbit/s HSDPA/HSUPA service in Gauteng. Most of these offerings are more expensive than ADSL for mid-to-high usage, but can be cost effective if low usage is required. MTN triggered a price war in late February 2007, offering 2 GB for each 1 GB bought, with Iburst giving a small "data bonus" to their contract customers and Sentech also reducing their prices. Vodacom responded with dramatic price cuts of their own on 1 April 2007, after which Cell C reduced prices on their larger offerings to undercut both MTN and Vodacom.
Internet hotspots are ubiquitous in hotels, coffee shops, and the like. This enables users—often tourists or people on the move—to easily go online without having to enter into a fixed contract with an ISP. Many hotspots offer usage free of charge, though frequently only after registration and/or for a limited amount of time or data.
Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP)
Until 1 February 2005, the usage of
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
outside of company networks was illegal under South African communications law, ostensibly to protect jobs. The deregulation of VoIP was announced by former Minister of Communications
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri
Ivy Florence Matsepe-Casaburri (18 September 1937 – 6 April 2009) was a South African politician. She was the second premier of the Free State and South Africa's Minister of Communications from 1999 until her death.
She served briefly as ...
in September 2004.
1G
1G used to be offered by Vodacom, MTN, Cell C and Telkom. Since then all 1G cell towers in South Africa have been repurposed as 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G infrastructure or decommissioned.
2G
South Africa offers GSM 900 and GSM 1800 with almost 99.9% coverage. So far Vodacom has shown interest in turning off their 2G network, but it is still operating today
3G
South Africa offers UMTS 900 and UMTS 2100 with 99.7% of the population having coverage.
4G/LTE
South Africa offers LTE 1800, LTE 2100 and LTE 2300, from MTN, Vodacom, Cell C, Telkom and Rain.
LTE Coverage by carrier 2020
5G
So far, Vodacom and MTN both have launched 5G 3500 in Johannesburg and Cape Town. with MTN having the widest and most 5G coverage in the country.
telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
company, based in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
. As of 2020, MTN recorded over 31 million subscribers in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
MTN South Africa
MTN Group Limited, formerly M-Cell, is a South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, operating in many African and Asian countries. Its head office is in Johannesburg. , MTN recorded 280 million subscribers, making it the ...
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. They also offer
FTTH
Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber op ...
services and were the first provider in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
to launch 5G. Currently they have the widest 5G coverage on the
continent
A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...
mobile communications
Mobile telephony is the provision of telephone services to phones which may move around freely rather than stay fixed in one location. Telephony is supposed to specifically point to a voice-only service or connection, though sometimes the l ...
company, providing service to over 55 million customers. Founded in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
,
Vodacom
Vodacom Group Limited is a South-Western African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include n ...
has grown its operations to include networks in 32 other
African countries
This is a list of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africa. It includes both fully recognised states, states with limited or zero recognition, and dependent territories of both African and non-African states. It lists 56 sovereign state ...
.
Vodacom
Vodacom Group Limited is a South-Western African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include n ...
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
UMTS
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the Inte ...
networks in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. They also offers
HSPA+
Evolved High Speed Packet Access, HSPA+, HSPA (Plus) or HSPAP, is a technical standard for wireless broadband telecommunication. It is the second phase of HSPA which has been introduced in 3GPP release 7 and being further improved in later 3GPP ...
(21.1 Mbit/s),
HSUPA
High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile protocols—High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)—that extends and improves the performance of existing 3G mobile telecommunicat ...
(42 Mbit/s, 2100 MHz),
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
,
WiMAX
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options.
The WiMAX ...
Vodacom
Vodacom Group Limited is a South-Western African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include n ...
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
Brooklyn Mall
Brooklyn Mall is a shopping mall in Brooklyn, Pretoria, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the ...
,
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
achieved 240 Mbit/s in a speed test.
In late 2020
Vodacom
Vodacom Group Limited is a South-Western African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include n ...
also became the second
network operator
A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a wireless service provider, wireless carrier, cellular company, or mobile network carrier, is a provider of wireless communications services that owns or controls all the elements necessary to sell ...
in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
to publicly launch a live 5G network, initially available in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
,
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
and
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. They offer 2G, 3G, 4G and LTE services After recently going
bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...
has decided to merge all their customers with both MTN and
Vodacom
Vodacom Group Limited is a South-Western African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include n ...
telecommunications provider
A telephone company, also known as a telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications operator, is a kind of communications service provider (CSP), more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunicat ...
, operating in more than 38 countries across
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. Telkom is majority-
privatised
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
with it being 39%
state-owned
State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...
.
Telkom mobile
Telkom (previously known as Telkom Mobile or 8.ta, changing from 8ta in 2013) is a South African mobile telecommunications company. Telkom Mobile was launched in October 2010 and is owned by Telkom. Telkom phone numbers use the 0811 to 0819 dia ...
, previously 8.ta offers 2G, 3G, 4G and LTE services
Rain
Rain (Pty) Ltd
Rain or Rain (Pty) Ltd is a South African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services.
History
Rain launched in February 2019, and began providing data only services using 3000 of their own cell t ...
is a
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
s provider in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, providing data only services to consumers in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. They offer 4G and LTE mobile services as well as 5G mobile services
Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile is a wireless communications brand used by seven independent brand-licensees worldwide. Virgin Mobile branded wireless communications services are available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kuwait, Saudi Ara ...
telecommunication companies
A telephone company, also known as a telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications operator, is a kind of communications service provider (CSP), more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunicat ...
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
.
Fiber Infrastructure Providers
OpenServe
OpenServe
Telkom SA SOC Limited is a South African wireline and wireless telecommunications provider, operating in more than 38 countries across the African continent. Telkom is majority state-owned (55.3%) with the South African government owning 40 ...
is a licensed
telecommunications service provider
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
s through an
open-access network
An open-access network (OAN) refers to a horizontally layered network architecture in telecommunications, and the business model that separates the physical access to the network from the delivery of services. In an OAN, the owner or manager of t ...
. They are majority owned by
state owned
State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...
Telkom. They provide broadband services to over 3 million households and having laid over 147,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
Vumatel
Vumatel
Vumatel is a South African Licensed Infrastructure service provider, installing FTTH infrastructure throughout South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bo ...
is an Open Access Fibre Provider, that specialize in building Fibre networks. They are majority owned by
Remgro
Remgro Limited is an investment holding company based in Stellenbosch, South Africa. It has interests in banking, financial services, packaging, glass products, medical services, mining, petroleum, beverage, food and personal care products. In ...
and provide
Fibre to the Home
Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber optic ...
(FTTH) services in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
fiber
Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...
to over 102,000 homes in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
home
A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...
s and
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
es across
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, with a strong presence in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
.
MetroFibre
MetroFibre is a carrier class Ethernet (CE 3.0) infrastructure company, that today provides highly managed fibre optic broadband connectivity in South Africa. Their Customers include Internet Service Providers (ISPs), resellers, residential and business properties.
SADV
The Internet in South Africa, one of the most technologically resourced countries on the African continent, is expanding. The Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) .za is managed and regulated by the .za Domain Name Authority (.ZAD ...
FTTH
Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber op ...
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
to people in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
Internet Service Providers
There are over 150 registered ISPs in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
Registered with
ISPA ISPA may refer to:
* Indian Space Association (ISpA)
* Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics
* Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession, part of the European Union Regional policy
* International Sleep Products Association
* I ...
Fiber Optic Cable Systems
Background
Fiber Optic cables land at multiple points in South Africa.
2Africa
2Africa is an international submarine telecommunications cable that circumnavigates the coastline of Africa to interconnect Europe and the Middle East. It is funded by a consortium of companies include several Telephone company, telcos and Meta P ...
PEACE
Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...
SAFE
A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...
2Africa
2Africa is an international submarine telecommunications cable that circumnavigates the coastline of Africa to interconnect Europe and the Middle East. It is funded by a consortium of companies include several Telephone company, telcos and Meta P ...
Cape Town
*
2Africa
2Africa is an international submarine telecommunications cable that circumnavigates the coastline of Africa to interconnect Europe and the Middle East. It is funded by a consortium of companies include several Telephone company, telcos and Meta P ...
PEACE
Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...
Melkbosstrand
*
SAFE
A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...
SAT-3/WASC
SAT-3/WASC or South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable is a submarine communications cable linking Portugal and Spain to South Africa, with connections to several West African countries along the route. It forms part of the SAT-3/WASC/SAFE cabl ...
*South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable/South Africa Far East (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE):
SAT-3/WASC
SAT-3/WASC or South Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable is a submarine communications cable linking Portugal and Spain to South Africa, with connections to several West African countries along the route. It forms part of the SAT-3/WASC/SAFE cabl ...
, a 14,350 km-long 340 Gbit/s cable system, became operational in 2001, providing the first links to Europe for West African and South African Internet users, taking up service from SAT-2 which was reaching maximum capacity. The SAFE cable system, a 13,500 km-long 440 Gbit/s system, was commissioned in 2002 and links South Africa to the Asian continent, with landing points at India and Malaysia.
* SEACOM: The SEACOM submarine cable landing at
Mombasa
Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...
, entered commercial service in June 2009. The cable runs from South Africa to Egypt via Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia, connecting eastwards through to India and westwards through the Mediterranean. It initially operated at 640 Gbit/s in 2009, was upgraded to 2.6 Tbit/s in 2012, with further upgrades during 2013.
* East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy): The
EASSy
The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) is an undersea fibre optic cable system connecting countries in Eastern Africa to the rest of the world.
EASSy runs from Mtunzini in South Africa to Port Sudan in Sudan, with landing points in ...
cable system entered service during July 2010. The 4.72 Tbit/s system runs from South Africa (Mtunzini) to Egypt via Mombasa (Kenya) and other
African Great Lakes
The African Great Lakes ( sw, Maziwa Makuu; rw, Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the second-largest fresh water lake in the ...
countries. The cable runs as far north as Djibouti and
Port Sudan
Port Sudan ( ar, بور سودان, Būr Sūdān) is a port city in eastern Sudan, and the capital of the state of Red Sea. , it has 489,725 residents. Located on the Red Sea, Port Sudan is recognized as Sudan's main seaport and the source of 90% ...
in
Northeast Africa
Northeast Africa, or ''Northeastern Africa'' or Northern East Africa as it was known in the past, is a geographic regional term used to refer to the countries of Africa situated in and around the Red Sea. The region is intermediate between North ...
, with onward connectivity to Europe provided by the Europe India Gateway (EIG) cable. In March 2007, a 23-member consortium behind EASSy signed a supply contract with
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a su ...
which led to the construction of the cable.
* West African Cable System (WACS): The WACS is a 14,000 km-long cable that provides 5.12 Tbit/s of bandwidth between South Africa, 11 other West African countries, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. In April 2009, the WACS consortium signed a construction and maintenance agreement in April 2009 and the cable became operational in May 2012.
Proposed Cable Systems
The following systems have been proposed or are under construction, but are not yet operational in South Africa:
*Main One: The Main One cable system, a 14,000 km-long system with a capacity of 1.92 Tbit/s, is being delivered in two phases. The first phase linked Ghana and Nigeria to Portugal and became operational in July 2010. Phase two of the project will provide additional Internet capacity to South Africa and other countries on the west African coast.
*ACE (Africa Coast to Europe): The ACE cable system is a 17,000 km-long submarine cable capable of supporting an overall potential capacity of 5.12Tbit/s using
wavelength division multiplexing
In fiber-optic communications, wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) is a technology which multiplexes a number of optical carrier signals onto a single optical fiber by using different wavelengths (i.e., colors) of laser light. This techniq ...
(WDM) technology. When complete it will connect 23 countries either directly for coastal countries or indirectly through terrestrial links for
landlocked countries
A landlocked country is a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie on endorheic basin, endorheic basins. There are currently 44 landlocked countries and 4 landlocked list of states with limited recogni ...
, such as
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
and
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagesSAex cable is a proposed
submarine communications cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables laid beginning in the 1850s carried tel ...
which would link
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
with onward connectivity to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
that will connect to the existing
GlobeNet
GlobeNet is a wholesale telecom operator that connects the Americas with various services (Network, IP, Data Center and Security), supported by its subsea cable system and IT infrastructure.
The subsea cable system has Cable landing point, landi ...
cable system. The project was announced in 2011 following a
BRICS
BRICS is an acronym for five leading emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The first four were initially grouped as "BRIC" (or "the BRICs") in 2001 by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill, who coined the ter ...
summit and a memorandum of understanding signed by its members. The project, if realized, will enable the shortest route possible to the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
reducing latency and bandwidth costs. Currently, America bound South Africa
Internet traffic
Internet traffic is the flow of data within the entire Internet, or in certain network links of its constituent networks. Common traffic measurements are total volume, in units of multiples of the byte, or as transmission rates in bytes per cert ...
routes through Europe, incurring the said latency and bandwidth costs. If constructed, the cable will have the largest design capacity (12.8 Tbit/s) of any other cable servicing the African continent.
*BRICS Cable: A proposed 34,000 km-long, 12.8 Tbit/s capacity, fibre optic cable system that would link Russia, China, India, South Africa, Brazil (the BRICS economies), and the United States as well as interconnecting regional and other continental cable systems in Asia, Africa, and South America for improved global coverage. Target date for completion is mid to late 2015.
*WASACE: WASACE Cable is a proposed 29,000 km-long, 40 to 60 Tbit/s capacity, fibre optic cable system. When complete it would link four continents (South Africa to Nigeria via Angola, Nigeria to Brazil, Brazil to the United States, and the United States to Spain) and be interconnected to the SEACOM cable system. Network development will be staged with the Africa and Americas portions of the system targeted to be available in the first quarter of 2014 and with the Europe portion to follow."WASACE Cable Company is pleased to announce that it has begun the procurement process to select a cable system supplier" , Ramón Gil-Roldán, WASACE Cable Company, 8 May 2012
Decommissioned Cable Systems
Background
Legislation and licensing
The
South African government
The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa.
Executive authority ...
passed the Electronic Communications Act in 2006 and is dramatically restructuring the sector towards a converged framework, converting vertically-integrated licenses previously granted to
public switched telephone network
The public switched telephone network (PSTN) provides Communications infrastructure, infrastructure and services for public Telecommunications, telecommunication. The PSTN is the aggregate of the world's circuit-switched telephone networks that ...
(PSTN), mobile, underserved area licenses (USAL), PTN and value-added network service (VANS) operators into new Electronic Communications Network Services (ECNS), Electronic Communications Services (ECS), or broadcasting licenses. In January 2009, the ICASA granted ECS and ECNS licenses to over 500 VANS operators.
The South African market is in the process of being dramatically restructured, moving away from old-style, vertically integrated segments under the
1996 Telecommunications Act
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a United States federal law enacted by the 104th United States Congress on January 3, 1996, and signed into law on February 8, 1996, by President Bill Clinton. It primarily amended Chapter 5 of Title 47 of th ...
and 2001 Telecommunications Amendment Act towards horizontal service layers, and the new-style licensing regime is being converted to accommodate this. This process involves the conversion of pre-existing licenses into new "individual" or "class" ECNS, ECS, or broadcasting licenses. Licenses are also required for radio frequency spectrum, except for very low power devices.
ICASA granted ECNS licenses during December 2007 to seven new USAL operators. The new licensees include PlatiTel, Ilembe Communications, Metsweding Telex, Dinaka Telecoms, Mitjodi Telecoms, and Nyakatho Telecoms.
The South African market is split into two main tiers: top-tier Internet access providers; and downstream retail ISPs. ISPs are licensed as VANS providers, although under the Electronic Communications Act of 2006, these licenses were converted in January 2009 to individual or class electronic communication service (ECS) licenses. All domestic ISPs gain international connectivity through one of the Internet access providers:
SAIX {{Unreferenced, date=April 2018
The South African Internet eXchange (SAIX) was a transit ISP erroneously marketed as an Internet exchange point. It was once the dominant provider serving Internet traffic in Southern Africa.
SAIX is run by Telkom, ...
(Telkom), Neotel, Verizon Business,
Internet Solutions
Internet Solutions (IS) is an Internet services provider for public and private sector organisations. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dimension Data Group and part of NTT.
Headquartered in South Africa, IS has operating offices in Moz ...
(IS), MTN Network Solutions, DataPro, and Posix Systems.
Following the deregulation of the VANS industry in South Africa, a number of leading operators have diversified from being a top-tier ISP to becoming a converged communications service provider offering a range of voice and data services, particularly
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
, through the conversion of VANS licenses into ECS licenses.
With delays to
local loop unbundling
Local loop unbundling (LLU or LLUB) is the regulatory process of allowing multiple telecommunications operators to use connections from the telephone exchange to the customer's premises. The physical wire connection between the local exchange and ...
(LLU), which would give ISPs access to exchanges, operators are deploying a range of broadband wireless networks. While the mobile operators are deploying
HSDPA
High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile protocols—High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)—that extends and improves the performance of existing 3G mobile telecommunicat ...
,
W-CDMA
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the Inte ...
and
EDGE
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
networks and entering the broadband space, operators are also deploying
WiMAX
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options.
The WiMAX ...
,
iBurst
IEEE 802.20 or Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) was a specification by the standard association of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for mobile broadband networks. The main standard was published in 2008. MBW ...
, and
CDMA
Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communication ...
systems. Telkom, Sentech, Neotel, WBS and the under-serviced areas licensees (USALs) have currently been given commercial WiMAX licenses. Telkom launched full commercial WiMAX services in June 2007, first at 14 sites in Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban, and a further 57 sites rolled out over 2007/8. Another 10 operators, including
M-Web
Mweb is an Internet Service Provider based in South Africa since 1997.
Mweb is a division of Internet Solutions Digital (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of Dimension Data, and its headquarters are located in the Mweb Building in Parow, Cape Town.
Hi ...
and
Vodacom
Vodacom Group Limited is a South-Western African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include n ...
, were granted temporary test licenses and are awaiting spectrum to be allocated by ICASA. In May 2008, WBS partnered with Vodacom and Intel Corporation to roll out an 802.16e WiMAX network.
SANReN
The South African National Research and Education Network (
SANReN
SANReN (South African National Research Network) is the project to create a new National Research and Education Network in South Africa. However, unlike most other NRENs, SANReN will provide its clients with both connectivity to the world's re ...
) provides dedicated bandwidth capacity to more than a 100 university campuses, research institutes, museums and scientific organisations in South Africa. This is the foundation for collaborative research with academics and scientists on the African continent and across continents. The SANReN enables the participation of South African scientists and postgraduate students in global research, such as the high energy physics
ATLAS experiment
ATLAS is the largest general-purpose particle detector experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a particle accelerator at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland. The experiment is designed to take advantage ...
hosted at
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
in Geneva, and will enable global access to the
Square Kilometre Array
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental international radio telescope project being built in Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency). The combining infrastructure, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKA ...
radio astronomy project co-hosted in South Africa and Australia.
Internet censorship
Internet censorship in South Africa is not individually classified by the
OpenNet Initiative
The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) was a joint project whose goal was to monitor and report on internet filtering and surveillance practices by nations. The project employed a number of technical means, as well as an international network of investigato ...
(ONI), but South Africa is included in ONI's regional overview for
sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
media freedom
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerci ...
is generally respected in South Africa. Political content is not censored, and neither bloggers nor content creators are targeted for their online activities. In 2013,
Freedom House
Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...
rated South Africa's "Internet Freedom Status" as "Free"."South Africa country report" ''Freedom on the Net'', Freedom House, 2013.
In September 2012, the
Constitutional Court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
upheld a ruling that prescreening publications (including Internet content) as required by the 2009 amendments to the Films and Publications Act of 1996 was an unconstitutional limitation on
freedom of expression
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
.
In 2006, the government of South Africa began prohibiting sites hosted in the country from displaying X18 (explicitly sexual) and XXX content (including
child pornography
Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...
and depictions of violent sexual acts); site owners who refuse to comply are punishable under the Film and Publications Act.
Under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act of 2002 (ECTA), ISPs are required to respond to and implement take-down notices regarding illegal content such as child pornography, defamatory material, and copyright violations. Members of the Internet Service Providers Association are not liable for third-party content they do not create or select, however, they can lose this protection from liability if they do not respond to take-down requests. ISPs often err on the side of caution by taking down content to avoid litigation since there is no incentive for providers to defend the rights of the original content creator, even if they believe the take-down notice was requested in bad faith. There is no existing appeal mechanism for content creators or providers.
South Africa participates in regional efforts to combat
cybercrime
A cybercrime is a crime that involves a computer or a computer network.Moore, R. (2005) "Cyber crime: Investigating High-Technology Computer Crime," Cleveland, Mississippi: Anderson Publishing. The computer may have been used in committing the ...
. The
East African Community
The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republics of Kenya, Burundi, ...
(consisting of
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
,
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
, and
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
) and the
Southern African Development Community
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana.
Its goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security coopera ...
(SADC; consisting of
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...
,
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, South Africa,
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
, and
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
) have both enacted plans to standardise cybercrime laws throughout their regions.
See also
*
Internet in Africa
The Internet in Africa is limited by a lower penetration rate when compared to the rest of the world. Measurable parameters such as the number of ISP subscriptions, overall number of hosts, IXP-traffic, and overall available bandwidth are ind ...
Internet censorship in South Africa
Internet censorship in South Africa is a developing topic.
Current status
South Africa is not individually classified by the OpenNet Initiative, but is included in ONI's regional overview for sub-Saharan Africa.
*
Telecommunications in South Africa
Telecommunications infrastructure in South Africa provides modern and efficient service to urban areas, including cellular and internet services. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is the watchdog of the telecommu ...
List of international submarine communications cables
This is a list of international submarine communications cables. It does not include domestic cable systems, such as those on the coastlines of Japan, Italy, and Brazil. All the cable systems listed below have landing points in two or more cou ...