Small, medium and micro enterprises are likely to be the key drivers of economic growth if the government, in partnership with Telkom, achieves universal broadband access in South Africa by 2020. The government will contribute R756-million towards Telkom's mass broadband roll-out when Telkom installs a million fibre-optic connections in cities within the next three years, to enable small information and communications technology (ICT) businesses to compete with multinationals."We need multiple small starters who can then enter and change our trajectory to growth and leapfrog our economy," said Telecommunications Minister Siyabonga Cwele at the annual Southern African Telecommunications Network Applications Conference this week.story_article_left1"People tend not to assist with finances or take risks with concepts because in the first two years or so they are just selling a concept. That is why we need venture capital to assist these ICTs," said Cwele, citing the difficulty in investing in virtual business models.The first-quarter results for the Department of Small Business Development showed that 43% of SMMEs worked in priority sectors, namely ICT, construction, agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism.Ian Russell, Telkom's chief procurement officer, said that despite a lack of empirical figures for broadband uptake, research from developed countries showed that for every 10-percentage-point increase in broadband penetration, GDP increased by 1%.However, with South Africa's power problems, strict ICT regulations and low business confidence across all fields, including ICT companies, the economic outlook is for stagnant growth.Russell acknowledged the country's energy constraints, saying that Telkom had been looking at alternative sources of power to maintain its operations.It was likely that "the core of Telkom would migrate off the grid" as the company sought to invest in backup capability - such as solar panels and turbine power generation - for its operations.One of the major challenges of accessing fibre-optic connections will be the concentration in the major cities, leaving a large portion of the population excluded from connectivity."We cannot talk about things like fibre-based networks and broadband speeds without recognising the digital divide and, more importantly, that it is well and alive and living in South Africa," Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko said.story_article_right2The move towards the "democratisation of broadband access" would allow excluded communities to participate in the digital economy, while using technology as an enabler for economic activity in an increasingly networked world, Maseko said.Despite developments in the ICT sector, there was still a lack of innovation, Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor said. "So we must hasten access to technology, hasten access for providers that are interested in expanding these services, and make sure they have the means to do it."As Telkom ventures into an open-access operation and the government stresses the importance of a rapid move to accessible broadband, the initiative will provide the private sector and service providers with a platform to expand outside South Africa.Cisco MD Peter Ford said the retention of skills would go a long way to making sure that some of the goals for 2020 were met."It's a challenge faced right across the developing world that very often there's people who acquire these skills, and when they acquire these skills lots of other opportunities open up to them around the world ... most governments in developing countries should be looking at the retention of those skilled professionals. It's clearly an area that needs redress," he said...