Survey ranks South Africa 68th for internet accessibility
The study this year covered 90% of the global population and indexed 110 countries.
A RECENT survey on internet access has ranked South Africa 68th in the world.
The 2021 Digital Quality of Life (DQL) survey is an annual, global survey on digital wellbeing. The survey results come from Surfshark, a global cybersecurity company.
According to Surfshark CEO, Vytautas Kaziukonis, the study this year covered 90% of the global population and indexed 110 countries.
“The study considered five fundamental pillars of digital life: internet affordability and quality, e-infrastructure, e-security, and e-government. According to the DQL Index 2021, South Africa ranks 68th in the world that indicates a drop down by nine places in the DQL ranking,” said Kaziukonis.
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“South Africa’s internet quality is similar to the global average. The country ranks 57th in the world but its mobile internet stability is 7th, worldwide. The country shows excellent improvement in the internet affordability pillar,” he added.
The survey found that South Africa’s index grew by 32% compared to last year, and it is now approximately 30% better than the global average.
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“People in South Africa have to work for 1 hour 38 minutes to afford the cheapest broadband internet package and 59 seconds to afford the cheapest 1GB of mobile internet, which is three minutes less than in 2020,” said Kaziukonis.
The research found that South Africa ranks 85th in e-security and is surpassed by Algeria, Kenya and Nigeria.
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