STAATSKOERANT, 24 JANUARIE 2014 No. 37261 As the countries and technologies develop and evolve, additional services are beginning to form a new basis of expanded universal services. These include: broadband services telemedicine services telemetry and remote sensing, control and monitoring smart metering services and solutions - automated meter reading (AMR), remote power load management and consumption trends analysis The experience of implementing UAS, coupled with lessons benchmarking, has highlighted the importance of the following factors: from international Maintenance - Due to past experiences within the existing community telecentres and cyberlabs, it has become even more important to consider sustainability through support and maintenance of universal service access points beyond the build-out phase. The true value and success of a communications access point is the longterm continued utilisation and successful operation and support of the facility by the intended beneficiaries. Training - Very often many potential users are, at least initially, intimidated by new technologies. To continue supporting a growing user base of the services available in telecentres and cyberlabs requires a fair amount of investment in attracting, retaining, and re-skilling customers and users. Local partnerships - Working with local partners enhances the level of trust and support the community attaches to universal service and access projects Diversity of services - The notion of providing a bundle of services at a single outlet tends to be a good practice as it builds an opportunity for beneficiaries to achieve a more diversified product range from a single facility. Policy questions What strategies for increasing the affordability of access to ICTs, particularly for lowincome users, should be adopted and how should the cost of providing services to needy communities, government institutions particularly schools and clinics be reduced? How should government take responsibility for all types of UAS across the ICT subsector, telecommunications, broadcasting and postal services? Should the universal access and service obligations continue in their current format? Are they sufficient for addressing the universal access challenge in light of new technological and market realities in South Africa? In a converged environment, should there be differences in the treatment of operators in the different sub-sectors (broadcasting, telecoms and postal) insofar as USAO and the USAF are concerned? Are the roles of USAASA, MDDA and ICASA still relevant given developments in the sector? 73 This gazette is also available free online at www.gpwonline.co.za 77