This is definitely something to be excited about!
As most of us in South Africa know, our internet access speeds and costs are shocking! Estonia has the fastest broadband connectivity at 50.86mb/s at a cost ratio of $4,36 p/mb while South Africa is at the bottom of the log with an average connection of 2.96 mb/s at a cost ratio of $38,87 p/mb. That’s 17x slower and 9x more expensive!
There are some that believe that our GDP can be positively affected by having high speed access to the internet; the World Bank identifies broadband connectivity as a key catalyst in economic growth and has found that for every 10% increase in connectivity, GDP increases by 1.38%.
[blockquote client_name=”JL”]Imagine being able to apply for your passport online and not having to waste your life away in those soul-destroying queues?[/blockquote]
Imagine being able to apply for your passport online and not having to waste your life away in those soul-destroying queues? Well, it’s currently possible in South Korea and Singapore, where the average processing time of an application is 4 hours and the first time an applicant is seen is when they collect their passports.
Below is a video outlining a plan to have broadband in the Western Cape rolled out in a way that makes the internet extremely accessible and affordable, and by doing so, helping to raise not only the GDP but also potentially the education levels.
[youtube youtube_id=”g-oLuqprdK0″ width=”320″ height=”240″]
Hopefully this plan comes to fruition and we see some great changes!
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