Parliament Committee readying Data report for November
Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Telecommunications hopes to have its report on the cost of using mobile data adopted by the National Assembly by the end of November.
Committee chairperson, Mmamoloko Kubayi, says after a two-week parliamentary recess they will be back early next month for the Committee to adopt the report and send it to the National Assembly for consideration.
She says her Committee was satisfied with the quality of the participants, most of whom presented evidence that painted South Africa as one of the few countries globally burdened with excessive data costs.
Kubayi says the Committee is concerned about this fact as it has a major impact on the quality and cost of living.
"A lot of people utilize the internet today for various issues to apply for jobs or when looking for opportunities as well as talking to their own families and maknig sure that if I have a child in school - let's say in a university - while I'm sitting in a rural community. I'll be able to utilise WhatsApp.
"If the costs are high - that is going to be impacted upon. Those are the things that are really concerning when you look at South Africa. We should be able to be somewhere better," she said.
Kubayi says ICT and telecommunications remain the backbone of the economy and data costs could suppress or help grow the economy.
"People running small businesses and bread and breakfasts rely on the internet for someone to go and book in hotel rooms. If the costs are high - they can't run their website and it kills the internet. You've got to think around the cost in broader terms like that," she said.