Govt telecentres battle against costs

The South African government says it is facing a number of challenges in sustaining telecentres it has established in areas where teledensity (the number of people per 100 households who have access to a landline) is less than 0.5%. High costs of electricity and telephone accounts make it difficult to continue providing service to these areas. Members of the community pay a minimal fee for using a telecentre's facilities, and telecentres tend to lose managers to the private sector. "The community often does not see the need for using the Internet or the telecenter," says Joshua Manamela, Universal Service Agency's provincial coordinator. Twenty-six out of 70 telecentres in rural areas have been closed because they are not financially viable.

The agency will focus on educating communities about the benefits of having a telecentre, and then plans to reopen or relocate telecentres that have been closed. The more sustainable centres benefit from companies that assist them with telephone costs or electricity bills. The Siyabonga telecentre, for example, has been equipped with subsidised broadband Internet access and document processing equipment.

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