According to a recently released report, Americans are "twice as likely to cancel cell phone service or cable than switch off their broadband connections." John Horigan, the author of the report attributes this trend to the fact that Americans view a broadband connection as a conduit for connecting to community and economic opportunity.

The finding by Horigan reinforces the widely acknowledged fact that cheap internet access must be granted to as large a percentage of the citizenry as is possible as such access is driver of social networks and economic growth. Underpinning the desire for increased internet availablity to the wide spectrum of the populace is the demystification of the geek mentality around internet usage and the widespread availability of online tools that are fundamentally structured to fit the lifestyle of the modern consumer who demands instant gratification.

I was actually surprised to learn that mighty America itself is falling behind its foreign competitors in bringing high-speed Internet access to the widest possible consumer base. Fortunately, this has stirred debate on what could be done to widen internet access to the populace and government has been identified as the main actor in this process.

Locally, the strategy for widespread broadband access is following the same course. A group of concerned industry leaders held a national broadband strategy conference in March 2009 to map the way forward. Their goal is that "All South Africans should have affordable broadband access to the internet."

The framework recognises internet access as an essential facility located on the same level as other basic infrastructure as water, sewarage and electricity. If government positively responds to this initiative and priotises internet access as is envisaged by the authors of the framework, then consumers will start enjoying, at miniml costs, the flexibility, enhanced productivity and convenience that broadband brings.