COST OF BROADBAND

Proposal: The Impact of Reducing the Cost of Broadband in South African Countries

[Customer Name]

The Impact of Reducing the Cost of Broadband in South African Countries

Introduction and Problem Statement

Research Context/Background

In general, broadband refers to telecommunication in which a wide bands of frequencies is available to transmit information. Much like a highway where more lanes allow more cars to travel at the same time, information can be multiplexed and sent on many different frequencies or channels within the band concurrently, using a wide band of frequencies available, thus allowing more information to be transmitted in a given amount of time.

Technological innovation and boom of ICT industry has brought immense opportunities for developing countries. In order to gain more access to information, the lower cost of broadband is the most urgent requirement for the emerging economies. The South African countries are unable to achieve economic growth due to regulatory inefficiencies, inadequate infrastructural development and poor broadband services. Improving the infrastructure development and competitiveness are the keys to achieve superior quality of broadband with lower costs. This would ensure more accessibility to broadband in South African countries (DBSA, 2012). The growth rate and economic acceleration could only be achieved through reducing the cost of broadband. It is high time that the socio-economic conditions of these countries are improved through improving the ICT industry. The collaboration between ICT industry, regulatory authorities and infrastructural development sector needs to be achieved for long term sustainability. The research will focus on the broadband market in South Africa and the overview of regulatory authority which is headed by ICASA. The role of different bodies in reducing the cost of broadband will be analyzed and how alternatives to broadband can be utilized for dissemination of information (Wieck & Miguel, 2010).

In this digital age, internet and broadband have brought a revolution. This revolution needs to be achieved in these developing countries as well for achieving economic growth. The research will focus on the current global ratings and trends to assess the performance of ICT industry. This would help the researcher in evaluating different aspects of the research problems. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Information Technology Report 2013, South Africa ranks 70th out of 144 economies surveyed which shows ICT industry needs to be improved through effective cost leadership strategies and development. It is highly significant to develop the ICT industry in South Asian countries in order to boost their economic growth (World Economic Forum, 2013).

The World Bank (2012) ranks South Africa number 138 (out of 142) for the quality of its math and science education. Only one other African country (Angola) has worse math and science education than South Africa. This affects the pool of business resources available for staffing technology rich environments and consequently nearly all South Africa's information technology is imported (World Economic Forum, 2013).

The research will be based on analyzing the impact of lower cost of broadband in South African countries.

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