This thesis presents aspects of Internet connectivity in rural South Africa. The work looks at government initiatives being undertaken to connect rural communities to up-to-date information networks. Various projects that seek to connect rural areas of South Africa, as well as other remote areas around the world, are discussed. These projects present many novel ideas that have been successfully used to link rural communities in remote areas with the information age. In particular, wired and wireless access technologies that can be implemented to connect remote communities to the Internet are discussed. A field test utilizing GPRS, VSAT and WiMAX was implemented in Dwesa-Cwebe, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. VSAT proved to offer better Internet connectivity in terms of throughput and latency. WiMAX was then successfully implemented to relay the signal over the remote area of Dwesa-Cwebe, thus effectively providing Internet connectivity to an area with limited cell phone coverage and no telephone lines.

Community networks (in South Africa and Africa) are often serviced by limited bandwidth network backhauls. Relative to the basic needs of the community, this is an expensive ongoing concern. In many cases the Internet connection is shared among multiple sites. Community networks may also have a lack of technical personnel to maintain a network of this nature. Hence, there is a demand for a system which will monitor and manage bandwidth use, as well as network use. The proposed solution for community networks and the focus within this dissertation, is a system of two parts. A Community Access Point (CAP) is located at each site within the community network. This provides the hosts and servers at that site with access to services on the community network and the Internet, it is the site's router. The CAP provides a web based interface (CAPgui) which allows configuration of the device and viewing of simple monitoring statistics. The Access Concentrator (AC) is the default router for the CAPs and the gateway to the Internet. It provides authenticated and encrypted communication between the network sites. The AC performs several monitoring functions, both for the individual sites and for the upstream Internet connection. The AC provides a means for centrally managing and effectively allocating Internet bandwidth by using the web based interface (ACgui). Bandwidth use can be allocated per user, per host and per site. The system is maintainable, extendable and customisable for different network architectures. The system was deployed successfully to two community networks. The Centre of Excellence (CoE) testbed network is a peri-urban network deployment whereas the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL) network is a rural deployment. The results gathered conclude that the project was successful as the deployed system is more robust and more manageable than the previous systems.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Online sport ventures seem promising and sure of success, if one considers reports on the success of on-line sport ventures and the size of the market such a venture attracts. These reports however, relate mostly to the United States and are based on a number of assumptions which might not ring true in the South African environment. Further investigation is required before committing resources to an Internet sport venture in South Africa. In this thesis the viability of such a business venture in South Africa is tested according to a well-structured model. The literature study reflects investigation into some specific Internet Business Drivers as identified, which can be related to sport in South Africa as well as investigation into typical problems faced by Internet Business Ventures. The Sports Information and Science Agency (1998) commissioned research to evaluate the impact of sport on the South African economy. Eskom (2000) commissioned research to analyse the lifestyle of South Africans in general. This useful information as well as other research will also be analysed and discussed regarding relevance to an Internet Sport Venture. The Venture Opportunity Screening Guide (Timmons, 1999: 117-156) provides a structured model to evaluate the viability of business ventures taking all available aspects into account. The model is based on a number of screening criteria used by venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and investors to screen business ventures. This model will be used as the foundation of this thesis to research a final conclusion on the viability of an Internet Sport Venture in South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit lyk asof Internet Sport ondernemings baie potensiaal het. Dit lyk asof die meeste verslae wat handel oor sulke ondernemings verwys na suksesse in Amerika. Die gevolgtrekkings gemaak geld nie noodwendig vir Suid Afrika nie. Verdere ondersoeke is noodsaaklik voordat die navorsing as toepaslik tot die Suid Afrikaanse milieu geïdentifiseer kan word. Die lewensvatbaarheid van 'n soortgelyke onderneming in Suid Afrika word in hierdie tesis ondersoek deur middel van 'n goed gestruktureerde model. Die literatuurstudie som navorsing in verband met spesifieke toonaangewende Internet ondernemings op, wat van toepassing is op die Suid Afrikaanse situasie. Tipiese probleme ondervind deur Internet ondernemings word ook bespreek. Navorsing in verband met die uitwerking van sport op die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie is aangevra deur Die Sport Informasie en Wetenskap Agentskap (1998). Navorsing aangaande die lewenstyl van Suid-Afrikaners is ook aangevra deur Eskom (2000). Data van hierdie en soortgelyke navorsing word geanaliseer en bespreek om die impak daarvan op 'n Suid Afrikaanse Internet Sport Onderneming te ondersoek. Die "Venture Opportunity Screening Guide" (Timmons, 1999: 117-156) verskaf 'n gestruktureerde model om die potensiaal van besigheids-geleenthede te ondersoek. Die model is gebaseer op die evaluerings-kriteria wat gebruik word deur finansiers, entrepeneurs, en beleggers om die potensiaal van geleenthede te ondersoek. Die model sal dien as basis van die ondersoek in hierdie tesis waarvan 'n finale slotsom in verband met die potensiaal van sodanige onderneming gemaak kan word.

M. Tech. Business Administration / Internet penetration in South Africa stood at 13.9% in 2011 as compared to average of 30% for the rest of the world. Given the racial demographics in South Africa where Black Africans constitute 79.5% of the population it stand to reason that given all things equal, Black Africans should constitute a greater part of the 13.9% however preliminary studies based on the number of subscribers of Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) subscription in residential areas indicated the opposite. The 20.5 % remainder of the population made up of the Coloureds, Whites and Indians racial groups formed a greater part of the residential ADSL users in the country, which suggests that they are the greater users of internet.

A Masters Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Commerce in the faculty of Commerce, Law and Management August, 2016 / Online activity through the Internet and mobile phones has dramatically increased over the last five years in South Africa (Nyirenda-Jere & Tesfaye , 2015). Lower costs for Internet and mobile phones are the main reasons for more and more people being connected (Price Waterhouse Cooper South Africa, 2012). But discrepancies exist, namely between the people who are connected and those who are not. This discrepancy is referred to as the digital divide and contributing factors towards it include income, education, age and other factors which were discussed in this paper (Nievhaves, Gorbacheva & Plattfaut, 2012). Free Wi-Fi is one of the solutions to bridge the digital divide to a certain extent and it is also a very valuable tool to marketers and business owners. This research study was aimed at understanding the impact of free Wi-Fi on consumers’ purchase intentions and likelihood to return in townships in South Africa. People in townships are an important group to analyse, because of the millions of inhabitants. Infrastructure in terms of the Internet is not as good as the infrastructure standards in suburbs or in the city. The purpose of the study was to find out the impact of free Wi-Fi on the likelihood of customers to return and their likelihood to purchase something at a location where free Wi-Fi is offered. For the purpose of this research a quantitative approach was used to investigate the impact of free Wi-Fi and factors leading to return and intention to conduct purchases. Non-probability sampling was used in the form of convenience sampling. A self-administered questionnaire was developed to investigate behaviour. Four hundred questionnaires were distributed to people living in Soweto. The analysis indicated that the four access variables, namely - material, mental, usage and skills access - have an influence on the intention to use free Wi-Fi which, in turn, has an influence on the likelihood to return or purchase something. Implications for marketers and businesses is: the marketers have to consider the digital divide when marketing to consumers in South Africa and that offering free Wi-Fi at a commercial place has positive implications for both customers and businesses. / MT2017

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Management Sciences in Library and Information Science, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / This study investigates the preparedness of subject librarians to meet the challenges of information technology in higher education institutions in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal. The objectives of the study were to identify different technologies that subject librarians use, also to investigate the preparedness of subject librarians to meet the challenges of information technology as it changes rapidly. Furthermore to determine the areas in their technological skills that subject librarians need to improve or strengthen; and to investigate whether the surveyed institutions are providing training and development programmes to re-skill and update subject librarians on new technologies. The target population for this study was subject librarians from major academic institutions in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Electronic questionnaires were administered to subject librarians for data collection purpose. The study revealed some weaknesses in the use of some technology as well as challenges being faced in skills transfer using technology. Recommendations were made on support from the management of universities in re-skilling subject librarians and pro-active actions from subject librarians should they encounter something new in technology. / M

New mass media impact on the nature of public communication and the use and gratification of existing mass media because each new medium is used and experienced differently. As a new mass medium, the Internet offers different forms of communication, such as Internet Relay Chat, Multi-User Dungeons and chatrooms. It has also combined traditional mass media, namely print, radio and television, into a single powerful medium. Due to the fact that the Internet is still an emerging medium, its long-term effects on the nature of public communication and traditional mass media warrants ongoing investigation. The first part (Part A) of this dissertation situates the Internet chronologically within the development of traditional mass media and their impact on public communication. Part B investigates Internet use among a group of professionals in South Africa. The objective is to identify how they use the Internet and the gratification they derive from it. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

In recent years, immense effort has been channelled towards the Information and Technological development of rural areas. To support this development, telecommunication networks have been deployed. The availability of these telecommunication networks is expected to improve the way people share ideas and communicate locally and globally, reducing limiting factors like distance through the use of the Internet. The major problem for these networks is that very few of them have managed to stay in operation over long periods of time. One of the major causes of this failure is the lack of proper monitoring and management as, in some cases, administrators are located far away from the network site. Other factors that contribute to the frequent failure of these networks are lack of proper infrastructure, lack of a constant power supply and other environmental issues. A telecommunication network was deployed for the people of Dwesa by the Siyakhula Living Lab project. During this research project, frequent visits were made to the site and network users were informally interviewed in order to gain insight into the network challenges. Based on the challenges, different network monitoring systems and other solutions were deployed on the network. This thesis analyses the problems encountered and presents possible and affordable solutions that were implemented on the network. This was done to improve the network‟s reliability, availability and manageability whilst exploring possible and practical ways in which the connectivity of the deployed telecommunication network can be maintained. As part of these solutions, a GPRS redundant link, Nagios and Cacti monitoring systems as well as Simple backup systems were deployed. v Acronyms AC Access Concentrators AMANDA Automatic Marylyn Network Disk Archiver CDMA Code Divison Multiple Access CGI Common Gateway Interface.

New mass media impact on the nature of public communication and the use and gratification of existing mass media because each new medium is used and experienced differently. As a new mass medium, the Internet offers different forms of communication, such as Internet Relay Chat, Multi-User Dungeons and chatrooms. It has also combined traditional mass media, namely print, radio and television, into a single powerful medium. Due to the fact that the Internet is still an emerging medium, its long-term effects on the nature of public communication and traditional mass media warrants ongoing investigation. The first part (Part A) of this dissertation situates the Internet chronologically within the development of traditional mass media and their impact on public communication. Part B investigates Internet use among a group of professionals in South Africa. The objective is to identify how they use the Internet and the gratification they derive from it. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

This project aimed at assessing and evaluating the extent to which deployed ICTs in the rural area of Dwesa have impacted on the lives of the residents there. This occurred between February 2008 and December 2009. The ICTs are an initiative collaboration of University of Fort Hare and Rhodes University, sponsored by Telkom SA, the Government of Finland and other market players. This research started by reviewing the extent to which rural areas in general have lagged behind in terms of accessing ICTs, paying closer attention to governmental policies and initiatives towards rural development. The project then looked at the currently available ICTs in Dwesa and trying to measure the extent to which they have been useful or rather complicated the lives of the people there. Also important was a review of the efforts made by the technology innovators towards ensuring that relevant and appropriate technologies were made available to the rural people. The project also looked into issues of sustainability, maintenance and general running of the project to ensure its success. Important key findings on access, appropriateness of ICTs, use and knowledge about the ICTs, literacy levels, education standards and readiness of community to use ICTs were made during this research. Also included in the findings are issues on state of infrastructure, already present services, and current uses of ICTs as well as notable positive ICT impact in Dwesa. The most important findings of this research were to assist in providing a detailed prediction of future impact of various possible new technologies that can be introduced to Dwesa. This research also had to be able to bring out a monitoring and evaluation system that should measure the impact of the ICT interventions over the past 5 years. This project was initiated in 2005 and is identified by the name Siyakhula Living Lab. The concept of a living lab is a new term for providing ICTs in an area where their usefulness can be tested based on the natural environment in which they are being used.