Internet users in SA pass 5.3-million

Friday, 29 January 2010 13:47 Written by Nafisa Akabor

The number of South African Internet users has passed the 5-million mark, breaking through the 10% mark in Internet penetration in the country.

This, according to the results of the Internet Access in South Africa 2010 study, conducted by World Wide Worx.

The study found that the number of Internet users grew by 15% last year, from 4.6-million to 5.3-million and is expected to grow at a similar rate in 2010.

“The good news is that we will continue to see strong growth in 2010, and we should reach the 6-million mark by the end of the year,” says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx.

“A sustained growth in Internet penetration is a key factor that will positively influence the economy of South Africa,” says Reshaad Sha, senior manager of Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group.

“The varied range of application services and social networking platforms used by local consumers has fuelled the uptake that we see today.”

According to World Wide Worx, the landing of the undersea cable on the South African coast was only one of a range of factors behind the growth and the Electronic Communications Network Services granting more than 400 licenses to organisations was of greater significance.

“This meant that service providers who were previously required to buy their network access from one of the major providers, could now build their own networks or choose where they wanted to buy their access.”

The final Internet Access in SA 2010 report is due to be released in March and will highlight the extent of new fibre-optic networks laid down to access South African cities and between the cities.

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