Preparing South Africa for information society ‘e-services’ : the significance of the VANS sector

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dc.contributor.authorMelody, William H.
dc.contributor.authorCurrie, Willie
dc.contributor.authorKane, Sean
dc.date.accessioned2010-03-24T15:20:14Z
dc.date.available2010-03-24T15:20:14Z
dc.date.issued2003
dc.description.abstractNew Value-Added Network Services (VANS) provide the foundation for the wide variety of applications (e-commerce, e-government, e-education, etc.,) that will make-up the e-economy in new information societies. Internet services are only a part of the VANS sector. The development of VANS is influenced primarily by three factors – technological improvements, government policies/ regulations, and the market structure of the VANS sector. South Africa has announced clear information society policies, but has not yet implemented them. Although the national fixed telecom network has experienced declining coverage in recent years, for those connected, the network is fully digitalised and makes increasing use of Internet Protocol. Technologically, South Africa is well prepared to be a leader in VANS development. However, its policy and regulation arena has been a site of continuous conflict and indecision, which has resulted in VANS development being restricted rather than promoted by government policy. Telkom’s aggressive activity in attempting to maximise its service exclusivities has restricted VANS development even further. Telkom’s exclusivity period under the government’s “managed liberalisation” policy ended 7 May 2002. If South Africa is to see its information society and e-economy policies implemented, it will have to establish, and implement through strong regulation, a commitment to promoting an innovative VANS sector. The forthcoming convergence legislation provides an opportunity to do so.en
dc.formatTexten
dc.format.extent1 digital file (8 p. )en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10625/42476
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSouthern African Journal of Information and Communication (SAJIC), The Edge Institute / Research ICT Africa, Braamfontein, ZAen
dc.relation.ispartofSouthern African journal of information and communication, issue no. 4, 2003, p. 26-40en
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
dc.subjectINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYen
dc.subjectTELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKSen
dc.subjectELECTRONIC ECONOMYen
dc.subjectPOLICY MAKINGen
dc.subjectGOVERNANCEen
dc.subjectREGULATIONen
dc.subjectSOUTH AFRICAen
dc.titlePreparing South Africa for information society ‘e-services’ : the significance of the VANS sectoren
dc.typeJournal Articleen
idrc.copyright.oapermissionsourceCC BY 3.0 Unporteden
idrc.dspace.accessOpen Accessen
idrc.project.number101584
idrc.project.titleDevelopment of an African ICT Policy Research Networken
idrc.rims.adhocgroupIDRC SUPPORTEDen

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