This document summarizes strategies for unlocking rural mobile coverage in South Africa. It outlines the challenges of low population density, difficult terrain, and lack of basic infrastructure in rural areas. Key policy enablers that can help expand coverage include allocating low-frequency spectrum, promoting infrastructure sharing between mobile operators, reducing sector-specific taxes, and having realistic competition policies. Government initiatives in South Africa like the Universal Service Fund and programs like ICT4RED and Ukufunda Virtual School aim to connect schools and provide tablets for education, but progress has been slow. Case studies of mobile operators like Vodacom expanding their 4G networks show potential solutions.

1. Unlocking Rural Mobile
Rural Coverage
GSMA Capacity Building June 2018
Prepared by: Vusani Ramadzhia

2. Unlocking Rural Mobile Coverage
Context
 Connectivity has the potential to have a positive impact on many aspects of
life including health, education, financial services etc.
 Digital access and divide goes beyond voice and internet connectivity.
 Digital inclusivity is comprised of e-education, e-Agriculture, e-Government
and e-Health and IOT services.
 In Africa, especially in the ECOWAS Region mobile money has become the
biggest market for the unbanked. Prompting unlocking rural mobile coverage
to enable these transactions.


3. Policy Framework Supporting South
Africa
African Union Agenda 2063
National Development Plan 2030
SA Connect: South African
Broadband Policy, 2013

4. Rural Mobile Coverage Gap
 “Recent studies have demonstrated that a 10 percentage point increase in
mobile penetration increases total factor productivity over the long run by
4.2 percentage points.
 A 10% substitution from 2G to 3G penetration increases GDP per capita growth
by 0.15 points on average.
 The availability of internet services can represent up to 25% of overall GDP
growth. At the end of 2015 around 4.2 billion people, 56% of the world’s
population, were still not connected to the internet.
 Around 2.6bn of this unconnected population face demand-side issues –
affordability, digital skills gaps or a lack of locally relevant content. That still
leaves around 1.6bn people, nearly 40% of the unconnected population, who
live outside the footprint of a 3G mobile network. 3.2bn 2.6bn 1.6bn.” (GSMA
Intelligence Consumer Survey, 2015)

5. Challenges of expanding Rural Mobile
Coverage in Rural Areas
 Population Density – Majority of people living in rural areas are scattered
from village to village. Mobile Network Operators are unwilling to invest in
infrastructure due to profit loss.
 Difficult terrain – Some areas are not easy to access i.e Mountains, Forest
dense and islands. It complicates networks roll out coverage for rural and
remote populations.
 Lack of basic infrastructure – Most of the rural areas lack basic infrastructure
and as a result it not easy to deploy network in rural areas and underserviced
areas.
 Low per capita income levels – Average inhibatants of population in rural
areas living significantly below the country’s average GDP per capita. This
causes digital divide despite high demand in basic mobile internet services.

6. Key Policy Enablers to unlock Rural
Mobile Coverage
 Low Frequency Spectrum/Spectrum Policy – This can significantly reduce number
of base stations required to expand rural mobile coverage in remote areas.
Coverage obligations must be integrated into spectrum auctions (Connecting the
Unconnected, 2018)
 Promotion of Infrastructure Sharing – Encourage Mobile operators to share
infrastructure aimed at expanding network coverage. This can eliminate capital
and operating costs. Increase competitions amongst operators.
 Elimination/Reducing of sector specific taxation – African countries impose VAT,
Customs and specific taxes on mobile industry. Elimination or reducing taxes for
carriers, service provides and consumers could positively impact of digital
inclusion.
 Realistic position on competition policy – Competitition is one of the cornerstone
of capital investment and innovation in the telecoms industry. It should realistic
and linked to universal access to basic internet services.

7. Possible Solutions to close the Gap
 Network roaming – Mobile Operator should have consensus amongst each
other allowing its consumer to roam in each other’s network.
 Sharing of passive elements – Sharing of towers and power supply are
regarded as one of the solutions of closing the gap
 Sharing of active elements – Radio network and backhaul capacity can
significantly play a role in expanding the network and bridging the gap

8. Vodacom South Africa on Unlocking Rural
Mobile Coverage – Case Study
 Vodacom is one of the few African mobile network to exceed 80% population
coverage on 4G by providing 80.12% 4G coverage in South Africa, with 99.78%
of the population covered by 3G and 99.97% covered by 2G.
 It is providing South Africans with the widest rural coverage.
 Its Consumers in deep rural areas of South Africa are enjoying the same 4G
signal as Vodacom in Johannesburg, Gauteng Province.
 It has further made capital investment of about R39 billion in its network in
South Africa over the past five years.
 Aims is to expand network coverage to all parts of the country, including
remote rural areas provide the release of spectrum sub-1GHz in order to roll
out 4G efficiently. (MYBROADBAND, 2018).

9. Government Public Interventions
 Government of the Republic of South Africa has put in place the Universal
Service Fund was put in place in line with ICASA Universal Service Obligations
Regulations, 2014.
 It imposes obligations on the licensees (operators) to contribute a fee of 0.2%
of annual turnover of licence activity towards universal service fund aimed at
connecting schools and other public institutions.
 Since the USO regulations started in 2014 more than 3600 schools were
connected countrywide. The rate at which universal service access is being
conducted in South Africa is slowly and has proved to be ineffective.
 During 2016/2017 financial year USASSA failed dismally to achieve its targets.
It has only managed to achieve 33% of its targets and 67% were not achieved.

10. Government Initiative on Unlocking
Rural Mobile Coverage
ICT4RED
• Objective of this initiative is to provide support to rural
educators by integrating tablet in teaching mathematics and
science in schools within Cofimvaba in the Nciba District,
Eastern Cape Province.
Ukufunda
Virtual
School
• The South African Department of Basic Education in
partnership with the UNICEF, and the Reach Trust came up
with its first innovative initiative on m-learning service.

11. Conclusion
 The evidence from this study is that majority of people are still unconnected
and due to many factors that contribute to the digital divide such as tax
levies, terrains etc.
 Efforts from industry players (Mobile network operators) and Government are
being made to unlock rural mobile coverage. Case in point i.e. Vodacom case
study and Government initiative such USF.
 The most challenging issue is that there USF is mismanaged and is ineffective.
 In order to fully unlock rural mobile coverage, Government need to release
spectrum to enable mobile operators to roll-out necessary network such as 3G
& 4G.
 WOAN Model would not be the best practice to unlock rural mobile coverage.

12. References
Connecting the Unconnected: White Paper on Rural Coverage in Africa. (2018).
Online). Accessed 22 June 2018. Retrieved from http://www.huawei.com/za/press-
events/news/za/african-telecommunication-union-and-huawei-jointly-release-white-
paper-on-rural%20-coverage-in-africa Accessed 22 June 2018)
African Union. (2015). Agenda 2063: The Africa we want. Accessed 22 June 2018.
Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/africa/osaa/pdf/au/agenda2063.pdf
Presidency. (2011). National Development Plan: 2030. Pretoria: The Presidency.
Accessed on 22 June 2018. Retrieved from
https://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/devplan_2.pdf
DTPS. (2013. South Africa Connect: Creating Opportunities, ensuring Inclusion South
Africa’s broadband policy: Pretoria: Department of Communications. Accessed on 22
June 2018. retrieved from
https://www.dtps.gov.za/index.php?option=com_phocadownload...id...

13. References Cont.
 GSMA. (2017). Connected Society Unlocking Rural Coverage: Enablers for
commercially sustainable mobile network expansion (Online). Accessed on 22 June
2018 retrieved from https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-
content/uploads/2016/07/Unlocking-Rural-Coverage-enablers-for-commercially-
sustainable-mobile-network-expansion_English.pdf
 GSMA. (2018). Enabling Rural Coverage Regulatory and policy recommendations to
foster mobile broadband coverage in developing countries (Online). Accessed on
22 June 2018. retrieved from https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-
content/uploads/2018/02/Enabling_Rural_Coverage_English_February_2018.pdf
 MYBROADBAND (19, April 2018). Vodacom hits big 4G coverage milestone in South
Africa (Online). Accessed on 22 June 2018. retrieved from.
https://mybroadband.co.za/news/cellular/256801-vodacom-hits-big-4g-coverage-
milestone-in-south-africa.html

14. References Cont
 ICASA. (2014, June 24). General Notice- MTN Amended Universal Obligations.
Government Gazette, No 37718. Johannesburg, South Africa: Independent
Communications Authority of South Africa [ICASA].
 USAASA. (2017). ‘Universal Service Access Fund Annual Report for the year ended 31
March 2017’,USAASA, (Online) Johannesburg, p31, (Accessed on 22 June 2018).
retrieved from online at http://www.usaasa.org.za/export/sites/usaasa/resource-
centre/download-centre/downloads/USAF-Annual-Report-2016-2017.pdf
 Roberts, N. Spencer-Smith, G & Butcher, N (Eds). (2016). An implementation evaluation
of the Ukufunda Virtual School. Pretoria, South Africa: Kellelo Consulting
 Herselman, M, & Botha, A (Eds.). (2014). Designing and implementing an Information
Communication Technology for Rural Education Development (ICT4RED) initiative in a
resource constraint environment: Nciba school district, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Pretoria, South Africa: CSIR Meraka. Retrieved from
https://researchspace.csir.co.za/dspace/bitstream/handle/10204/8094/Herselman_20
14.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y