Internet usage in SA to grow by 15% in 2010
South African Internet users exceeded the five million mark for the first time, accounting now for 10% of Internet penetration in the country, says a study conducted by World Wide Worx and jointly sponsored by Cisco.
The Internet Access in South Africa shows that the Internet user base grew by 15% last year, from 4.6-million to 5.3-million and a similar trend is expected for 2010.
“The good news is that we will continue to see strong growth in 2010, and we should reach the 6-million mark by the end of the year”, commented Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx.
From 2002 to 2007, growth in the number of South African Internet stagnated at around 7%, only to bounce up in 2008 at an almost double rate. Reshaad Sha, Senior Manager for Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group, claims that the variety of application services and social networking platforms fuelled the uptake.
According to World Wide Worx, the new undersea cable linking the south African coast with Europe contributes to the growth, while the granting of Electronic Communications Network Service licenses to more than 400 organizations means more local networks being built and a diversity of options to choose from. Small providers are now able to rethink the services provided by large telecoms and, as a response, large telecoms begin to offer more competitive packages.
“In the coming year, operators will begin to leverage the combination of new undersea cable capacity and new fibre-optic networks to supply corporate clients and resellers with bigger, faster and more flexible capacity”, said Goldstuck.
Dial-up connectivity started to lose ground in the past years, moreand more small and medium enterprises relying on broadband connectivity, a process that saw an additional one to 20 new Internet users for every small business installing ADSL.
In addition to that, the extension of fibre-optic networks is likely to produce a profound change in the way South Africans connect and use the Internet, enhancing competitiveness even further, says the report, due to be released in March.
“South African consumers and businesses are demanding access to online applications and services that can only be experienced via high speed connectivity, such as fibre-optic networks. The year ahead will see the proliferation of high speed connectivity materialising more widely than ever before”, concluded the Cisco executive.
What is the definition of an Internet user? The figure we use in discussions with clients is around 18%, which refers to anyone who has been online in the past month. Also, the 10% usage is based on the assumption that South Africa’s population is over 53 million. Why that particular figure?
Hi Sarah, an Internet user is any person with constant access to an Internet network (dial-up, Wi-Fi, high speed broadband etc), at home or work. In my opinion, generally speaking, the figures on Internet usage in South Africa could be even higher, as certain parts of the population might not afford a permanent connection and use instead local Internet chat room services from time to time. Since South Africa’s population grows closer to 50 million people, it is true to say that around 10% (maximum – rounded figure) of population (5 millions) has access to Internet already, however the World Wide Worx’s study deals with trends and estimates for 2010 – figures might change a bit as population grows and more and more South Africans embrace Internet usage. I don’t believe, at this stage, that is possible to count every Internet user in the country (let’s not forget that apart from South Africans, incoming foreigners who settle in the country can become Internet users too).