Digital City (part 2 Of 2)
By Theo Boshoff, Sat Dec 10th

Hutchison says it all boils down to who will get whatlicences, such as Private Telecoms Network licences (PTN)and Value Added Network licences (VANS), as well as the abilityto re-sell spare bandwidth capacity. These issues are stillunder discussion, but it seems that Icasa has been given morefreedom in deciding who will be allowed certain licences, and itseems probable that municipalities will be able to re-sell sparebandwidth capacity to service providers.

Yes, the telecoms market was opened to an extent in Februarythis year, but the rules and regulations of playing the gamehave not yet been clearly defined, specifically regardinglicensing, interconnection, the re-selling of spare capacity andlocal loop unbundling.

There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel, with theElectronic Communication Bill (Convergence Bill) havingbeen adopted by the National Assembly, and sent to the NationalCouncil of Provinces (NCOP) for approval. It is expected to besigned into law by the president before the end of the year.

Services

Most people agree that social services and education should bethe first points to cover when digital cities becomes a de factostandard. Andy Brauer, chief technology officer for BusinessConnexion, says, "The average man on the street stands tobenefit most from these developments. If service delivery is thefocus area this could be a real way of addressing education,training and skills development issues through access toVirtual Library or Knowledge Centres in areas, which areunder developed. Alternatively, service delivery could includepartnerships in order to provide larger service offerings to thelarger communities." "In terms of services we must see this asseveral phases. But the potential is there for an array ofservices,

including municipal information channels, IPTV, voice,emergency assistance and even municipal digital subscriberlines."

Bacher says, "Children's education and teaching should be thefirst priority for government when access is established throughthe digital cities initiative." Beyers-Clements adds, "Educationand information services, for instance to assist people to findjobs and the homeless to find shelter, through kiosks etc, willbe at the forefront of delivery. Giving advice, direction, and asolution to those who are struggling would be a good startingpoint." Hutchison says that once digital cities are established,the field will be open for endless possibilities in terms ofservices that can be supplied. He notes that, after supplyingbasic services, it will basically be up to creative thought andinnovation to lead the way for additional services.

Gale believes that the e-services that will be supplied shouldnot just come from government's side, but that citizens shouldcome to the fore, and tell government what services they needand what is critical to them. Baptiste comments, "Public sectorfocus should be on the softer issues, with health and educationat the top of the list."

Digital cities are no longer just a dream. They arepossible and PPP will see them become a reality for the benefitof all citizens of this nation. How long it will take, dependson the vigour and determination of both government and privateorganisations.

About the author: Storm supplies over 5000South African businesses with high-speed internet and voiceaccess. These include some of the top listed 100 JSE companies,the top three auditing firms, and several multi-nationals.Another one hundred and fifty join every month. They do sobecause they know that these technologies form an integral partof their business and that Storm can provide cost-effectivesolutions.