Why the need for Digital Village?

The Garden Route region has long since been afflicted with sub-standard data and telecommunication services. In rural communities internet services are either entirely unavailable, or are restricted to slow and ineffective solutions such as dialup access, or expensive solutions as in the case of cell phone technology (GSM and 3G for example).

In urban areas internet speed is generally very low, existing wireless networks are congested, service is notoriously unreliable and access is expensive. As far as fixed line access is concerned, the cost is prohibitively expensive for those who need it most, and in many areas ADSL lines are not available and will not be available for the foreseeable future.

Both private users and businesses have been suffering from this lack of quality service for a long time. It is also clear that there will not be any institutional remedy for this situation any time soon.

Even where it is argued that local government should bear the responsibility of providing the necessary stimulus for data network upgrading and expansion, it proved in many cases that there was little drive or ambition to remedy the situation.

The fact remains that next generation data connectivity is not merely a luxury but an absolute necessity can be clearly seen in economical context when it is considered that for reasons of education, communication and economic upliftment of a region, data connectivity has become an absolute essential.

It was therefore resolved that the community will have to provide the initiative of providing a high quality connectivity solution. This came about as the result of the combined thinking and planning effort of experienced local businessmen and philanthropists, together with community organizations such as the George IT Consortium and the local Wireless Users Group, in partnership with local government and municipal authorities as well as local business and private individuals.