The Southern African Journal of Information and Communication (SAJIC)

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The Southern African Journal of Information and Communication (SAJIC) was an academic journal that was published from 2000 to 2008 by the LINK Centre, School of Literature, Language and Media (SLLM), Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Accredited by the South African Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), it was the precursor to today's The African Journal of Information and Communication (AJIC). As with AJIC, SAJIC was interdisciplinary, open access, and concerned with Africa’s participation in the information society and digital network economy.

ISSN: 2077-5040 (online version)

ISSN: 1607-2235 (print version)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23962/10539/28051

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2005 - 20072

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Author: search.filters.author.Esselaar, Steve

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    Mobile Cellular Telephone: Fixed-Line Substitution in Sub-Saharan Africa
    (LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2005-12-15) Esselaar, Steve; Stork, Christoph
    Mobile cellular telephones have been the success story of communications globally. In the developed world, mobile telephony is traditionally seen as being complementary to fixed-line telephony, primarily because of its pervasiveness but also because the fixed-line network provides access to other technologies such as broadband. This article finds that, in nine African countries, in contrast to the developed world, mobile telephony is a substitute for fixed-line telephony – across all income groups and not just low income households as previously thought. The article argues in addition that pre-paid payment options (not just for mobile phones) are key to increasing use by low income households because irregular incomes do not support regular financial commitments in terms of contracts.
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    Case Notes: South Africa's Policy Incoherence: An Update on the Knysna Wi-Fi Project
    (LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2007-12-15) Esselaar, Steve; Soete, Pieter
    In the past, the main obstacle against building network infrastructure was the cost. Technological advances, however, have meant that building a functional, low-cost network is possible. Knysna is the first municipality in South Africa to achieve this. The problem is not the infrastructure but the connection to the larger networks of the mobile and fixed-line operators. The incumbents’ incentives are to prevent interconnection (or at least to delay it) on the basis of maintaining their dominance. In the telecommunications sector in South Africa, the only way to overcome this problem is via regulation. Yet regulation has to balance two sometimes competing interests – investment in infrastructure and competition. The Knysna Uni-Fi project has operated outside of any enabling regulation for competition and investment and this has negatively impacted upon its commercial success. Any regulatory intervention imposed upon the market has to balance the interests of competition and investment. In the South African market, given the huge dominance by the incumbents, that balance must change to favour new entrants. Until this takes place Knysna is not a replicable model for South Africa.