"To attain the goals of universal access and service to ICT, the country needs to ensure that prices should be affordable," Universal Services and Access Agency of SA spokesman Khulekani Ntshangase said.
Most people in the country could not afford to make voice calls due to the high cost, he said.
The regulation was published in the Government Gazette today and National Treasury says its implementation has been postponed to 1 June "to allow businesses sufficient time to get their systems ready".
The Ikamva National e-Skills Institute was launched at the Durban University of Technology by Communications Minister Yunus Carrim and Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel on Friday.
Presenting the provincial budget for 2014-2015 for Gauteng, member of the executive committee (MEC) for finance Mandla Nkomfe said government has “finalised” the GBN and construction is scheduled to begin on April 1.
Read more: ZA: Gauteng Broadband Network to roll out at cost of $48m
The Democratic Alliance (2014) released its 2014 election manifesto today, which states that the party plans to establish a new regulatory framework for the ICT sector to ensure that broadband capacity improves, that prices fall and that the internet becomes accessible to all.
The DA said that new information and communication technologies continue to break down traditional boundaries between people, businesses and nations by making it easier to engage, to exchange information, to transact and to deliver services.