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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Author: search.filters.author.Gillwald, Alison

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    Telecommunication Policy and Regulation for Women and Development
    (LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2000-12-15) Gillwald, Alison
    This paper examines the issue of whether or not the needs and interests of the majority of women who live in poverty are likely to be addressed by current legislative and regulatory measures designed to achieve universal access to telephone service in South Africa. The paper highlights the enabling aspects of the policy and legislative framework to equalise gender relations in the telecommunication sector in South Africa. Particularly, it identifies the empowerment and advancement of women in telecommunications and the ownership and control of telecommunications services by persons from historically disadvantaged groups, as enabling aspects of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The author concludes that while current measures may positively affect the lives of a relatively small percentage of women through their inclusion in the ownership and control of new companies or from increased employment opportunities or promotion previously denied them in this male dominated sector the current measures are deficient. This is firstly because current policy and implementation strategies do not effectively address issues of affordability. Secondly, the technical features of the network are presumed to be neutral with respect to cost (and price) considerations, masking their class and gender bias. Finally, insufficient attention has been given to seeking innovative ways of addressing women’s information needs which are assumed, from technology design through to service offerings, to be the same as those of men and particularly businessmen. The paper continues to explore possible policy and regulatory strategies that can be pursued under existing conditions within the telecommunications sector in South Africa and in other developing countries to enable the sustainable development of women in society. It is argued in the policy and statutory requirements to promote universal and affordable service to women and that the developmental potential of telecommunications should positively affect the lives of women. From a developmental point of view, the objective of universal service has the potential to be a powerful enabler for a wide range of women. Given that rural women in South Africa, as in other parts of the developing world, are the worst affected by poverty, any strategy to provide universal access and ultimately service, on the grounds of the right to information and potential for social and economic development, must target this most marginalised group.
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    Experimenting with Institutional Arrangements for Communications Policy and Regulation: The Case of Telecommunications and Broadcasting in South Africa
    (LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2001-12-15) Gillwald, Alison
    This paper examines the shifting institutional arrangements in South Africa’s telecommunications and broadcasting sectors as it seeks to deal with national transformation at the same time as the relentless economic and technical changes to the sector being driven at a global level. These include the convergence of traditionally distinct forms of communication resulting from the digitalisation of technologies and the privatisation and liberalisation of traditional monopoly services. The author locates the changing institutional arrangements in this sector in the context of the struggle by government to transform decision-making and institutional arrangements. The tensions inherent in this process are not clear-cut, consistent or even clearly visible but impact in complex and cross-cutting ways on the policy framework and arising institutional arrangements. The paper then periodises institutional arrangements in the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors into four overlapping phases: the pre-transition phase up to 1993; the reform phase up to 1997; the implementation phase which begins in 1994 in broadcasting and 1997 in telecommunications and the review phase which begins with broadcasting in 1998 and in telecommunications in 2001. Although the institutional flux has often been attributed to forward looking policy it is argued that the perpetual reorganisation of the sector also reflects large scale institutional failure. It is argued however that this cannot be placed solely at the door of the various new regulatory institutions. Perhaps one of the most critical factors to undermine the various regulatory institutions has been the lack of resources. The lack of skilled human capital has allowed all three regulators to be out-regulated by the industry and the lack of financial capital has rendered them in effectual both in defending their actions and fulfilling their mandate. The dearth of these have taken their toll on the ability of the regulator to be credible and one can only conclude reflects the covert desire of the industry and state for them not to be entirely effectual. Finally, the paper argues that until there is an integrated and holistic national information and communication policy, driven from the Presidents Office, various policy proposals impacting on ICT development in the country emanating from different portfolios will continue to be contradictory, inconsistent and ultimately damaging to the vision of South Africa as a regional ICT hub and a major contributor to the African Renaissance.
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    Between Two Stools: Broadband Policy in South Africa
    (LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2007-12-15) Gillwald, Alison
    This paper explores the underlying causes of South Africa’s relatively poor broadband penetration despite Government’s acknowledgment of its centrality to a modern economy and information society. South Africa’s broadband policy has emerged from two apparently contradictory policy approaches. Until these are resolved, the sector will remain inert between two strategies, unable to move forward on either. On the one hand, broadband has evolved within the context of “managed liberalisation”, a local adaptation of the international telecommunications reform model. This has created a market structured around a number of vertically integrated operators, fixed and mobile, whose services have evolved to offer broadband. The latest phase of this model is expressed in the Electronic Communications Act which came into force in 2006 and reforms the regulatory and licensing framework to address the challenges of convergence. Within this context, broadband uptake has been relatively poor and costs of ADSL and mobile HSDPA services remain high as a result of limited competition and ineffective regulation. This has prompted Government to adopt another strategy, in parallel with its current reform process. It has initiated a fully state owned broadband operator, which is also expected to address the high cost of international cable bandwidth currently provided exclusively by the incumbent. This paper examines the underlying reasons for the development of these two potentially contradictory processes and their institutional arrangements to assess the implications for the achievement of national policy objectives on broadband extension.
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    Editors' Note
    (LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, 2007-12-15) Gillwald, Alison; Van Audenhove, Leo