THE government wants to drastically reduce the cost of broadband internet use through the introduction of more competition, Communications Minister Dina Pule says.

THE government wants to drastically reduce the cost of broadband internet use through the introduction of more competition, Communications Minister Dina Pule says.

Opening the ICT Indaba Africa Conference in Cape Town yesterday, Pule said most of the new growth in data access could be attributed to the rise in the number of broadband subscribers using hand-held devices such as smartphones.

She said the number of mobile broadband subscribers grew by 31% in 2011 to reach 4.2million.

"We are, however, concerned that the broadband prices remain very high based on purchasing power parity in comparison with some OECD countries such as Mexico, Chile and Hungary," Pule said.

She said the reduction in price would be made by the government identifying and licensing internet service providers who would be capable of pushing broadband prices lower.

Telecommunications regulatory lawyer Dominic Cull described the speech as "serious good news".

Cull said that, because more than 42million people in South Africa used cellphones, it was the most efficient way of getting people connected to the internet.

"Mobile data is really unaffordable for the vast majority of the population," he said.

"Competition is the best way to bring prices down." - I-Net Bridge