STAATSKOERANT, 24 JANUARIE 2014 No. 37261 CHAPTER 1: GREEN :.PAPER 1.1 Green Paper for Public Consultation In the years after the dawn of the new millennium, and a decade since the two-phased World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) the world has witnessed transformation at unprecedented scales. The proliferation of the internet, associated technologies, applications, content and services are at the core of this transformation. Communications have always been at the centre of human society and the opportunities presented by rapid technological advancements are impacting profoundly on this core human activity. Advanced communications systems not only reflect development, but they drive it too. A key issue which consequently arises is whether the policy environment is sufficiently supportive and enabling to ensure that all sectors of society reap the benefits of the digital age. This question is therefore a fundamental point of departure in proposing this green paper for public consultation. Until now, the communications industry in our country has traditionally been divided into telecommunications, broadcasting, and postal services. In 1994, at the advent of our democracy, we saw a revolution in communications as the state broadcaster became a public one, the airwaves were opened up, and an independent regulator was established. This revolution has been an ongoing one. Our communications infrastructure has changed profoundly in the past 20 years: mobile phones are now almost universal in the country, there are nearly 200 radio stations on air, and there is substantially more competition in broadcasting than ever before, and the way in which we access information and services. This change has reflected not only an opening up of the communications sector, it has also reflected our Constitutional values. The most fundamental rights of equal citizenship and freedom were embodied in the various policies that recast the broadcaster from a state to a public one, that opened up the airwaves, and that opened ownership to a wider sector of citizens. Yet we are still faced with pressing challenges, particularly in an age where the world is changing from an analogue to a digital one, and where the previous divisions, between telecommunications, broadcasting and postal services, are no longer as clear in an age of convergence. The rapid pace at which the internet has become pervasive, has not kept up with the rate at which all our citizens have been afforded access to affordable, secure, reliable and quality communications services. The purpose of this Green Paper is thus to continue a process to both change and develop the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector in a way that better serves the needs of citizens, and that boosts economic and social development, as well as transformation in our society. The Green Paper will be used to canvass opinions on the various aspects of the communications sector that need to be reviewed. It will include an examination of those elements of the communications policy and regulatory environment that have either not achieved, or only partially achieved, the goals they set. In some cases, policies were successful in resolving the challenges of the past, but now need to be reviewed to meet the demands of a new technological age. There are also many developments that could not have been predicted when previous policies and laws were drafted and that now require attention. The first phase towards developing a new policy approach began when a Framing Paper was gazetted for public consultation in April 2013. The Green Paper is the second round of a 7 This gazette is also available free online at www.gpwonline.co.za 11