Broadband Rollout – Who Will Benefit Most?

As I was driving back from a photo shoot on Umkhumbane yesterday I was thinking about who would benefit most from the roll-out of affordable, high quality and fast (we must give it a brand name) broadband. I thought of my friends and the people I work with.

The Smme’s at Tradepoint and the Business Support Unit of eThekwini will definitely benefit greatly – but there will also have to be a big mobilisation of computer literacy and access to this broadband.  Maybe someone will do a chain of cybercafes across the metro with low cost Internet access that also offer basic computer literacy training and maybe even printing and scanning services for a fee.

Many of these small businesses are run by really smart and bright people who spend a lot of money  and waste too much time on public transport. Those who are entering the export world – for them Internet access is essential.

I thought of friends I’ve visited who run NGo’s, clinics, gardens, schools, projects in outlying areas. Imagine how much they could benefit.

Then I got an email from an old friend (not aged – long standing) Ari Seirlis, from the QuadPara Association of South Africa – and there I has my answer – people in our city with physical disabilities.

Being able to afford Internet access will give quadriplegics and paraplegics a whole new dimension to their existence. But that’s another post.