Interview: Alison Gillwald on the state of ICT in SA

Loading player...
In this episode of the podcast, Duncan McLeod interviews Research ICT Africa executive director Alison Gillwald about the state of South Africa's ICT sector.
Gillwald, who also serves as adjunct professor at the University of Cape Town's Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, talks about what the country is getting right - and wrong - in expanding access to technology and the Internet.
Why have smaller and better-priced mobile operators struggled to win over customers from the dominant players? How can South Africa get smart devices in the hands of more people? What is the role of a universal service fund? Should government be involved directly in the telecommunications industry, or should it get out?
Does government's planned wholesale open-access network make sense? How should radio frequency spectrum be licensed? Are Vodacom and MTN too dominant, and if so what could and should be done to address this?
Gillwald discusses all of these questions, and much more, in the podcast. Don't miss it!
11 Sep 2018 English South Africa Technology · Business

Other recent episodes

TCS | Piet le Roux on Sakeliga's fight with Icasa over BEE

Business group Sakeliga is taking Icasa to court over the 30% ownership rule for telecoms licensees, and its CEO, Piet le Roux, says the regulator has "clearly misunderstood" the law. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Le Roux tells Duncan McLeod why Sakeliga has asked the high court in…
13 Nov 19 min

W&W | AA’s Bobby Ramagwede on a car industry running out of road

AA CEO Bobby Ramagwede tells Watts & Wheels that South Africa’s car manufacturing industry could be decimated within five years. Is South Africa’s car manufacturing industry running out of road? Automobile Association (AA) CEO Bobby Ramagwede thinks it might be. In this episode of Watts & Wheels, he tells William…
12 Nov 30 min

TCS | Pick n Pay fights back in online grocery wars

Pick n Pay will keep Smart Shopper Pro, its new paid loyalty tier, at its R99/month launch price "for a very extended period", says Vince Viviers, executive: innovation and digital transformation at the retailer. If the price does change, customers will be told well in advance, "so that there are…
11 Nov 27 min

TCS | Nomvuyiso Batyi on the battle over Sim registration

South Africa’s mobile operators want tougher Sim registration, but not on the terms communications regulator Icasa has proposed. Draft amendments to Icasa’s numbering plan regulations, published for comment last month, would require a fingerprint or face check against home affairs records for every new Sim, reactivation and Sim swap. Subscribers…
9 Nov 33 min

TCS+ | Old Mutual's Celiwe Ross on leading people through AI

AI is the defining technology of our era. At one extreme, it fuels fears of job losses, robot wars and computers ruling over human beings. At the other, it holds out hope: curing diseases such as cancer, bolstering global food security and even freeing people from the need to work…
6 Nov 36 min