[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.72]this is the Technology Report.
[00:05.97]South Africa is the richest countries in Africa,
[00:11.29]it is also one of the most modern
[00:14.29]and technologically advanced.
[00:17.55]It has some of the best rail,
[00:20.14]road and communication systems in Africa.
[00:24.82]Yet more than two-thirds of South African adults
[00:29.75]have never used the Internet.
[00:32.73]The South African Network Society recently reported
[00:38.64]that only 34% of South African adults use the Internet.
[00:45.25]That is about 12 million people.
[00:49.14]Three-quarters of the country's Internet users live in cities.
[00:54.92]Most of them use cell phones to get on the Internet.
[00:59.81]The rest go to Internet cafes
[01:02.79]or use the Internet at school or work.
[01:07.47]Indra de Lanerolle is with the South African Network Society.
[01:13.95]He says there are many reasons
[01:16.90]why so few South Africans use the Internet.
[01:20.33]Cost is one of them.
[01:22.27]"We do have expensive costs and cost
[01:24.11]is a big limitation to Internet use.
[01:26.45]It stops some people (from) using the Internet at all,
[01:28.94]and the other thing it does it stops people  (from) using it very much.
[01:32.45]So unless we can do much better than 1 in 3 connected,
[01:35.34]increasingly that's going to be a real disadvantage for the country."
[01:39.79]Poor Internet connectivity in rural South Africa
[01:43.97]and the high prices of Internet-ready mobile phones
[01:48.27]have also kept the poor disconnected.
[01:52.20]Most schools and work places in rural South Africa,
[01:57.18]where the majority of country's people live,
[02:00.66]have no Internet connection.
[02:03.70]And many areas of the country do not have Internet cafes.
[02:09.34]Sam Gina lives in Johannesburg, he has never been on the internet.
[02:16.21]"At home I don't have it. Laptop is too expensive for me.
[02:20.09]Now I am using a phone that doesn't have Internet."
[02:23.48]Wilson Ayong is a Cameroonian citizen
[02:28.06]who operates an Internet cafe in Johannesburg.
[02:32.20]He says the prices at Internet cafes
[02:36.08]are too high for many south Africans.
[02:40.01]"An hour here we take for five Rand.
[02:42.20]We give three hours for 10 Rand,
[02:45.47]we give 30 minutes for three Rand,
[02:48.11]15 minutes for two Rand.
[02:49.70]It's a bit expensive."
[02:51.09]So why it is so expensive to get on the internet
[02:55.52]in Africa's richest country.
[02:58.21]One reason is South Africa has too little bandwidth for its needs.
[03:04.63]And these private providers increase the country's bandwidth,
[03:09.51]they are making users pay the cost to do so.
[03:13.20]Even so the South African Network Society's Mr. de Lanerolle says
[03:19.78]Internet access in the country is improving.
[03:24.43]He says a new generation of Internet users
[03:28.27]from the country's middle class
[03:30.47]is quickly entering an area once reserved for the rich.
[03:35.44]His believe is supported by reports
[03:39.08]that show internet usage and access in South Africa
[03:43.26]has increased by more than 100% in the last five years.
[03:48.79]And that's the Technology Report from VOA Learning English.
[03:54.39]I'm June Simms.