SHOOT: That [growth projection] is perhaps an optimistic claim given the macroeconomic situation. If you've lost your job, and you're struggling to pay for food (and you're at the bottom of the human food chain) the last thing on your mind is going to be internet access. Corporates are probabluy going to seize on internet use (in terms of burning bandwidth) as a major way to save on expenses. Other factors he doesn't consider is the increase in the costs of computers and ordinary electricity, and a plethora of bankruptcies of those SME's he mentions. But I hope Goldstuck's right. He's right about the phone not being ideal to access the net (see immediately below). And the internet can, after all, do a lot of good when its users leave off gaming and scouring the web for porn.
“The cell phone right now is a very crude device for accessing the Internet,” says Goldstuck. “We will need to see great improvements in both usability and people’s ability to use advanced features on their cell phones, and that will take another few years.”
“The cell phone right now is a very crude device for accessing the Internet,” says Goldstuck. “We will need to see great improvements in both usability and people’s ability to use advanced features on their cell phones, and that will take another few years.”
 clipped from www.worldwideworx.comJOHANNESBURG:- South Africa’s Internet population is expected to grow as much in the next five years as it has in the 15 years since the Internet became commercially available in South Africa. This is among the startling conclusions contained in the Internet Access in South Africa 2008 report, released today by World Wide Worx. The report shows that the number of Internet users in South Africa grew by 12.5% to 4,6-million in 2008 – the first time since 2001 it has grown by more than 8%. The increased growth rate is expected to continue for the next five years, taking the Internet user population to the 9-million mark. “Four major factors will drive this growth,” says Arthur Goldstuck, managing director of World Wide Worx. “The first and most obvious development is the arrival of a new undersea telecommunications cable at the end of June. The second factor is the granting of telecommunications licences
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