At the Department of Communications’ policy colloquium in Midrand, new Cell C CEO Alan Knott-Craig said that South Africa is moving into dangerous territory where IT and telecommunications are taking a back seat in terms of development.
“In the early 1970s, SA was rated number five in the world (for telecommunications) or certainly in the top 10. We were certainly number one in Africa (but) we are now 73rd in the world and going backward. And we are no longer number one in Africa.”
Knott-Craig also mentioned that South Africa is not offering the “best broadband in terms of quality, speed and price” and said there is a failure in the industry. He pointed out that cost, speed and quality of data will be the most important factors for moving forwards.
“Our world in 2030 will be a data world where data is the medium for everything. Will voice have completely disappeared? We’ll have to wait and see [but] cost, speed and quality of data will be critical.”
But Knott-Craig has a number of solutions on how to fix the current state of IT. “We need to allocate resources in a way that drives costs down (and) encourages and enhances competition in a way that actually results in competition and leads to lower prices.”
“We are in a different stage of our lives. We have to drive costs down and accept that data is the way forward and that speed, price and quality is what will make it happen for us — or not.”
Although he has been with Vodacom for a number of years, he said that companies should accept the fact that the dire need for market share is over. “I have been away from the industry for a while. I got back to the industry and found not much had changed.”
Charlie Fripp – Consumer Tech editor
