• Log in
  • Sign up
  •  
  • About
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Rainmakers
  • 88mph Garage Nairobi
 
HumanIPOHome to African Tech
    
  • News
  • Activity
  • Startups
  • People

Follow African Tech scene

You have successfully subscribed!

Notify me!

Featured news

Google Chairman praises Nairobi as Africa’s tech hubKenya at advanced 4G/LTE testing phase

Advertisement

Most read

  • Safaricom and Intel launch YOLO smartphone in Kenya

    January 24, 2013

  • Construction begins on Kenya’s Konza Techno City

    January 23, 2013

  • Banking malware used in South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana can now spread through Skype

    January 24, 2013

  • Konza City actualization nears

    January 22, 2013

  • Kenya to destroy one ton of pirated DVDs

    January 22, 2013

  • Information ministry centre of Eritrean ‘coup’

    January 22, 2013

Latest by country

Kenya

  • al-Shabaab’s Twitter page suspended

    January 25, 2013

  • Intel targets over half a billion phone sales in Africa

    January 25, 2013

South Africa

  • RLabs sponsors R3 million plus worth of bursaries

    January 25, 2013

  • SARS hoax mails stealing from SA citizens

    January 25, 2013

Nigeria

  • NCC sets price for off-net SMS service in Nigeria

    January 25, 2013

  • Dell launches Windows 8 devices in Nigeria

    January 25, 2013

Follow us!

HumanIPO Twitter feed

Follow entrepreneurs, investors and tech enthusiasts!

Join today!

Latest by category

Startups

  • Kenya ICT Board in US$1.6 million partnership with NaiLab

    January 25, 2013

  • Lack of support main challenge to SA entrepreneurs, says app developer

    January 24, 2013

Mobile

  • VimpelCom to offer free access to Wikipedia on mobile devices

    January 26, 2013

  • Africa rated world’s second fastest growing economy

    January 25, 2013

Internet

  • Google looking at replacing passwords with hardware tokens

    January 26, 2013

  • Africa rated world’s second fastest growing economy

    January 25, 2013

Telecoms

  • VimpelCom to offer free access to Wikipedia on mobile devices

    January 26, 2013

  • Ugandan regulator condemns poor telecoms services, blames “vandalism”

    January 25, 2013

Features

  • Guest Post: Investing in your employees makes strategic business sense

    January 25, 2013

  • Konza City: What next?

    January 24, 2013

Events

  • Microsoft sensitizes developers on free tools

    January 25, 2013

  • Konza City: What next?

    January 24, 2013

Social Media

  • RLabs sponsors R3 million plus worth of bursaries

    January 25, 2013

  • al-Shabaab’s Twitter page suspended

    January 25, 2013

Gadgets

  • Google looking at replacing passwords with hardware tokens

    January 26, 2013

  • Intel targets over half a billion phone sales in Africa

    January 25, 2013

January 9, 2013 · by Gabriella Mulligan

Q&A: David Belson, Product Line Director, Akamai

Share Tweet

cambridgerotary.org

As the technology sector in South Africa grapples with numerous projects which both enhance the consumer experience in the country but also put increasing pressures on the national infrastructure, HumanIPO talks to David Belson, product line director, custom government engineering at web services provider Akamai, to hear an expert opinion on the challenges and benefits regarding the various tech developments.

 


HumanIPO: With the South African government targeting 100 percent broadband penetration by 2020, what are the challenges to implementing such a target successfully?


David Belson: There are a number of potential challenges that can stand in the way of the successful implementation of such a target:


- Definition – depending on how the South African government is defining ‘broadband’ and ’100% penetration’, the goal may be easier or harder to meet.  If the target speed is set sufficiently low, it may be easy enough to meet using existing infrastructure and/or without having to make significant additional investment.  Similarly, if the 100% penetration figure does not refer to actual speeds/bandwidth, and instead refers to advertised speeds and/or is limited to the availability of broadband connections to specific types of institutions (educational, government, etc.), it may be easier to meet.


- Geography and associated population density – it will be easier to bring broadband connectivity to larger numbers of people in areas of high population density, whether through wired or wireless connectivity.  However, in more rural areas, it may be much harder to reach residents with both high speed wired and wireless connectivity – geographic features may make infrastructure deployment extremely hard, and if critical resources like dependable electrical power aren’t available, it again may be hard to deploy the required infrastructure.


- Economic incentives/willingness to invest – in some countries, the government has provided economic incentives, whether through funding, tax breaks, or other vehicles, to spur the deployment of high speed Internet infrastructure.  Absent these incentives, network service providers may be reticent to make the investment to deploy new, or upgrade existing, infrastructure, as they can be seen by investors as near-term capital expenditures with an unclear long-term return.


- Affordability – this is related, to some extent, to the ‘definition’ point raised above.  If high-speed connections are available to 100% of the population, but are not priced at a level where most can afford to purchase/subscribe, then has 100% penetration truly been achieved?


It is widely suggested that mobile internet is the only future for consumer internet usage, particularly in an African context.  What is your view?


It’s not clear that mobile Internet is the *only* future for consumer Internet usage, especially if mobile carriers continue to impose usage caps and overage charges.  In an African context, it has been suggested that because there has historically been such limited investment in “wiring the continent” that skipping right to mobile would make sense.  This likely continues to be a sensible solution to broadly providing access to broadband connectivity, there will continue to be a place for wired consumer Internet connections as well.


According to your Q2 report, internet speeds in South Africa are slowing.  What causes this?


The Q2 report reflected nominal quarter-over-quarter losses for average and average and average peak connection speeds as measured by Akamai.  Such quarterly declines are not unexpected, and can be caused by a number of factors.  However, in Q3, these metrics both saw quarterly gains.  In addition, looking at the graphs that be generated at www.akamai.com/stateoftheinternet, the long-term trends for the average and average peak connection speed metrics in South Africa both show solid growth over the long term.


As more people start to use the internet in South Africa, will this impact on broadband speed?  If so, how?


Depending on how infrastructure is/was built out, and how “shared” it is, additional Internet usage could result in lower actual speeds experienced by end users, especially during peak hours, due to congestion, and contention for a limited resource (bandwidth).  However, if the infrastructure was built out with sufficient headroom, or is easily upgradeable, or if sharing is limited, then speed impacts may be minimal.  (By “sharing”, I am referring to the distribution of the bandwidth to multiple users in a given area – for example, if a gigabit connection is brought to a cabinet, is it shared across 10, 100, or 1000 households in a neighbourhood?)


With mobile operators rolling out LTE services across the country, will this impact on internet/speed in South Africa?


I think that there are a few questions here.  Broader rollout of LTE services will likely drive additional Internet usage across the country, assuming that such services, and the required devices, are affordably priced.  LTE speeds have historically been rather high, especially as compared to the access speeds available through older mobile technologies/protocols.  In some cases/areas, the LTE speeds are also higher than what users can get on wired connections from their telephone or cable companies.  In these cases, broader rollout will likely serve to raise the average speeds, aggregated across all connections.  However, as noted above regarding “sharing”, as more users adopt LTE-capable devices, limited spectrum will be shared across more users, and the actual speeds that users experience may decline.

Share Tweet

FB comments

Latest news

  • 17 hr 24 min ago

    Google looking at replacing passwords with hardware tokens

    After a streak of hackings over the past few years, Google is testing a new way of making accounts safer by replacing passwords with (more)

  • 21 hr 25 min ago

    VimpelCom to offer free access to Wikipedia on mobile devices

    Russian telecom company VimpelCom has announced a partnership with Wikimedia to provide its mobile subscribers with free Wikipedia through (more)

  • 1 day 13 hours ago

    RLabs sponsors R3 million plus worth of bursaries

    South African Reconstructed Living Lab (RLabs) has given 800 scholarships with the collective value of almost R3 million (US$255,329), (more)

  • 1 day 14 hours ago

    Africa rated world’s second fastest growing economy

    Africa is now ranked the world’s second fastest growing economy, after the continent surged five percent with analysts projecting 5.3 (more)

  • 1 day 15 hours ago

    al-Shabaab’s Twitter page suspended

    Twitter has suspended the Somali militant group al-Shabaab’s account following its tweets threatening to kill hostages from Kenya.

  • image
    1 day 15 hours ago

    Intel targets over half a billion phone sales in Africa

    Intel has indicated it is eyeing over 500 million mobile users in Africa after launching YOLO, its low-cost smartphone for Africa.

  • image
    1 day 15 hours ago

    Data storage in human DNA now possible

    A team of scientists has successfully stored and retrieved data using human DNA, an innovation that could replace hard drives and compact (more)

  • 1 day 16 hours ago

    SARS hoax mails stealing from SA citizens

    The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has warned South African citizens about a hoax email doing the rounds which attempts to steal (more)

  • 1 day 16 hours ago

    NCC sets price for off-net SMS service in Nigeria

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has ruled that mobile operators must charge their subscribers four naira (US$0.03) for off-net (more)

  • 1 day 17 hours ago

    Dell launches Windows 8 devices in Nigeria

    Dell has launched its range of XPS hybrid devices running Windows 8 in Nigeria, including the much-awaited XPS 12 convertible Ultrabook.

  • 1 day 17 hours ago

    OUTA successful in right of appeal against SA e-tolling ruling

    The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (OUTA) has been granted permission by the South African North Gauteng High Court to continue its (more)

  • image
    1 day 17 hours ago

    One step closer to cashless society with fingerprint payments

    Fingerprint payment is the imminent solution to a cash and card free trade future, Biocryptology studies at the South Dakota School of (more)

  • 1 day 18 hours ago

    3,200 ICT trainers to be deployed across Rwanda

    At least 3,200 teachers who have completed a year-long training course in ICT are to be deployed in schools across Rwanda in order to build (more)

  • 1 day 18 hours ago

    Sony introduces 'world's thinnest’ water-resistant tablet

    Japanese electronics giant Sony has unveiled a waterproof tablet touted to be the world’s thinnest at 0.27 inches thick, edging out the (more)

  • image
    1 day 19 hours ago

    South Africa’s Hydrox Holdings’ hydrogen breakthrough

    Hydrox Holdings claims to have invented a technology which could change the way hydrogen is produced and how automobiles are run.

  • 1 day 19 hours ago

    Galaxy sales boost Samsung’s 76% Q4 profit surge

    Samsung Electronics, the world's leading consumer electronics manufacturer, has seen its profits surge 76 percent in the last quarter’s (more)

  • 1 day 20 hours ago

    Phase3 Telecom to provide high-speed broadband for Nigerian rural schools

    Phase3 Telecom, a Nigerian aerial fibre infrastructure company, will provide high-speed broadband connectivity via its Open Access Network (more)

  • 1 day 20 hours ago

    Microsoft sensitizes developers on free tools

    Microsoft has unveiled a group of eight expert ‘evangelists’ called the Africa Apps team to sensitize tech developers on available (more)

  • 1 day 20 hours ago

    Ugandan regulator condemns poor telecoms services, blames “vandalism”

    Uganda’s telecommunications regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), has issued a statement criticising poor mobile (more)

  • 1 day 21 hours ago

    Rwandan microfinance institutions urged to embrace ICT

    Microfinance institutions in Rwanda must embrace information technologies if they are to obtain central bank help in managing their (more)

  • 1 day 21 hours ago

    SA's Telkom to slash rates next week

    South African Internet provider Telkom is reducing the cost of its uncapped fixed-line broadband by up to 40 percent as it looks to (more)

  • 1 day 21 hours ago

    Nokia makes modest profit in Q4

    Nokia has returned to profitability, with its Q4 report showing profits of US$585 million, though the firm still lost around US$3 billion (more)

  • 1 day 22 hours ago

    BlackBerry manufacturers' stock rises amid Chinese takeover talks

    Lenovo, a Chinese computer company, has not ruled out buying Research In Motion, the struggling Canada-based manufacturer of BlackBerry (more)

  • image
    1 day 23 hours ago

    SA schools still slow to catch on with ebooks

    South African Educational publisher MacMillan has noted an increase in ebook requests during the latest school rush for textbook orders, (more)

  • image
    1 day 23 hours ago

    Guest Post: Investing in your employees makes strategic business sense

    In an exclusive article for HumanIPO, Suhaifa Naidoo, Marketing Manager of Realmdigital and Chairperson of Girl Geek Dinners Cape Town, (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Striking off notice for TweetDeck will not threaten its existence

    The multi-column British-built Twitter application TweetDeck will continue running as normal despite being served a striking off notice by (more)

  • image
    2 days ago

    Kenya ICT Board in US$1.6 million partnership with NaiLab

    The Kenya ICT Board has launched a US$1.6 million partnership with private tech business incubator NaiLab as part of efforts to support (more)

  • 2 days ago

    4G network does not yet make business sense in Kenya, analysts say

    Kenya is not yet ready for 4G/LTE wireless networks, according to analysts, although the government has been advised to make baby steps (more)

  • image
    2 days ago

    Survey reveals social media habits of Nigerian teenagers

    A survey carried out across Nigeria by Richardson Konsult, a Lagos-based opinion poll center, has revealed teenagers in the North Central (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Lack of support main challenge to SA entrepreneurs, says app developer

    Stuart Minnaar, Founder of Studentology and Yappo, believes the lack of support to local entrepreneurs because of a void in contextual (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Fake app stores target Android customers

    Google’s app store Google Play, formerly known as the Android Market, is under attack from apparently sham app stores such as Gcogle Play (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Pope highlights importance of social media

    Pope Benedict XVI has used World Communications Day to highlight the importance of social media to the expansion of the Catholic Church (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Tecno Telecoms blames regulatory agencies for counterfeit phones in Nigeria

    Tecno Telecoms, a mobile phone manufacturing company, has linked the rise in counterfeit handsets in the Nigerian market to the (more)

  • 2 days ago

    African media to grow with international agreement

    International media management and digital publishing corporation udt. by content has entered an agreement with South African media (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Nigeria’s Imo Broadcasting Corporation set so migrate from analogue to digital in June

    Imo State Government has announced its radio and television services will complete the migration from analogue to digital by June, meaning (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Google Chairman praises Nairobi as Africa’s tech hub

    Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has presented a summary of his Africa trip in which he said Kenya’s capital Nairobi was “a (more)

  • 2 days ago

    South African Internet speed bounces back in third quarter

    A recent research study by Akamai Technology titled “State of the Internet” has concluded South Africa’s average Internet connection (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Nigerian satellite technology can avert environmental disasters – Ghanaian expert

    Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency has urged Nigeria to effectively utilise the country’s satellites in a bid to monitor natural (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Kenya at advanced 4G/LTE testing phase

    Kenya’s Ministry of Information and Communications has said the country is at an advanced testing phase of a advanced 4G/LTE network, (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Mozilla reveals Firefox OS smartphones

    Mozilla has launched its two Firefox OS based smartphones as "developer preview phones" which will be made available to developers in (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Counterfeit mobile phones a “monster” of a problem in Nigeria

    James Rutherfoord, Nokia’s Vice President for West and Central Africa, has slammed the multitude of counterfeit and substandard mobile (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Two more rural SA schools to get broadband

    Jongilanga High School and Chief Henry High School in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, will be the recipients of Internet connection and (more)

  • 2 days ago

    iPhone sales peak as Mac sales slump in Apple’s Q1 results

    Technology giant Apple’s mobile operating system (iOS) division skyrocketed in sales in the last three months of 2012, while sales of its (more)

  • image
    2 days ago

    Online research repository Hadithi to be launched in Kenya

    Kenya’s academic researchers and university students will soon have access to an online tool known as Hadithi, allowing them to access (more)

  • 2 days ago

    RIM to discontinue BlackBerry Internet Service?

    Smartphone manufacturer Research In Motion has not denied it will be discontinuing the uncapped fixed-cost BlackBerry Internet Service (more)

  • image
    2 days ago

    Konza City: What next?

    Even as construction work begins on Konza Techno City, a number of Kenyans and interested businesses are still in the dark on what to (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Lagos State ready to become hub of Google’s initiatives in Africa

    The Lagos State Government is adamant it is ready to become the hub of Google’s initiatives in Africa, with its governor believing the (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Kenya risks missing global TV switchover deadline

    Kenya’s Information and Communication Ministry permanent secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo has expressed fears that Kenya could miss the (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Zimbabwean Strive Masiyiwa named amongst Forbes' "20 most Powerful People in African Business"

    Strive Masiyiwa, Zimbabwean tycoon and founder of telecommunications company Econet Wireless, has been named by Forbes in their 2012 list (more)

  • 2 days ago

    Airtel Gabon penalised for under-reporting

    Gabon’s telecoms regulator, Autorité de Régulation des Communications électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP), has fined Airtel for its (more)

  •  Like us on Facebook
  •  Follow on Twitter
  •  Youtube
  • News
  • Startups
  • People
  • News RSS
  • About
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Rainmaker
  • 88mph Garage Nairobi
  • In press
  • Logo & brand
  • Feedback
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy