Communications in South Africa

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Contents 1 Telephone 2 Radio 3 Television 4 Internet 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Telephone

Telephones - main lines in use:

4.844 million(2002)

over 5 million (2001)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

33.3 million (2006) provided by three GSM networks, Vodacom [1], MTN South Africa [2] and Cell C [3]. MTN and Vodacom also support the UMTS 3G standard.

Telephone system:

the landline system provided by Telkom [4] (which currently has a government-granted monopoly on land-lines) is the best developed and most modern in Africa.

domestic:

consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay links, fiber-optic cable, radiotelephone communication stations, and wireless local loops; key centers are Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, and Pretoria.

international:

2 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean)

[edit] Radio

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 14, FM 347 (plus 243 repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998)

Radios:

17 million (2001)

[edit] Television

Television broadcast stations:

556 (plus 144 network repeaters) (1997)(unknown source, only channels 4 available to public, SABC 1,2,3 and eTV)

Televisions:

6 million (2000)

[edit] Internet

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

150 (2001)

Internet hosts:

288,633 (2003)

Internet users:

3.1 million (2002)

Broadband Internet: Although expensive compared to more developed nations, broadband is easily obtainable in South Africa. Fixed line options such as ADSL, ISDN, Diginet and Leased Lines are available from the national operator Telkom. Wireless options are available from Sentech[5],iBurst[6], Vodacom [7], MTN, Cell C as well as Telkom. Satellite options are available from both Sentech and Telkom.

See also: Broadband Internet access worldwide#South Africa

ADSL options start from R469 p/m on a 3GB cap^[1] ($65 - February 2007) while a more expensive 512 kbit/s ADSL connection on a 30GB cap would cost R2200 ($305) or more depending on the provider used^[2].

Wireless options are also available in major urban centres.

Second National Operator (SNO): A SNO, Neotel, has been licensed in South Africa and it is expected that the SNO will be commence public operations during April 2007.

[edit] See also

• South Africa
• South African Communication Landmarks

[edit] References

1. ^ "ADSL Internet Access Pricing - 3 GB", Hellkom, retrieved February 4, 2007
2. ^ "ADSL Internet Access Pricing - 30GB", Hellkom, retrieved February 4, 2007

[edit] External links

• Neotel

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