The Regulation of Mobile Internet in South Africa

Paul Laughton, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Africa has for a long time been plagued with poor infrastructure development, encouraging the digital divide. According to Kelly (2005) in Africa, in 2004 there were only 3.1 fixed line communication subscribers per 100 inhabitants, in comparison to 8.8 mobile communication subscribers per 100 inhabitants. Africa has experienced a sharp incline in mobile subscribers over the last decade. South Africa compared to the rest of Africa has an active mobile community with an average of 43.1 mobile subscribers per 100 inhabitants and 10.6 fixed line communication subscribers per 100 inhabitants. This gives way to a large mobile Internet community in South Africa, as most users of the Internet have access through mobile handsets. With a growing mobile Internet community South Africa has a prosperous m-commerce industry. Until recent South Africa’s mobile operators (MTN, Vodacom & Cell C), have not been under fire to regulate potentially harmful mobile content. This case study is set out to reveal the views of university students on the stance mobile operators should take to regulate or police potentially harmful Internet content accessed through mobile handsets. References Kelly, T. 2005. South Africa’s Position in Global Telecoms. Conference Paper. Proceedings of 2nd Colloquium on Telecom Prices, Johannesburg, 2005.