Government intervention in the South African broadband market

Frontier Economics has been commissioned by the GSMA to produce a report considering the current situation in the South African broadband market.

In particular, the South African Government has set ambitious targets for broadband access, speeds and affordability between now and 2030, with milestone targets also set for 2016 and 2020.

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the current situation in South Africa, and to discuss some of the high-level options that the Government has at its disposal to increase broadband availability and stimulate demand in South Africa.

We recognise that the Government has already set specific access, speed and affordability targets. The purpose of this report is not to evaluate those targets, or comment on how realistic they may be. Instead, this report focuses on increasing broadband availability and stimulating demand in more general terms.