The Internet Café Industry in South
Africa
Ramon Thomas
ramon@netucation.co.za
www.netucation.co.za
Introduction
Background
 What is an Internet Café?
 What are the worldwide trends?
 What is status quo in South Africa?

What is an Internet Café?
A café or shop that provides Internet
Access to the public at a fee
 Community access
 Helps to bridge the “digital divide”

The Internet Café Timeline
1994: Café Cyberia, London
 1995: Suba, Chicago & Milky Way, Joburg
 1998: Iran, segregated
 2000: Irbid, Jordan, 130 on a single street
 2004: 20,000 in 171 countries

Taiwan
2001: 700 Internet Cafes
 2002: 4,000 due to boom in PC Games
 Value R2.5 billion!!

India
50,000 Internet Cafes
 Satyam Infoway set-up 2,000 cybercafés
across 67 cities in 3 years
 Half-million users a month

South Africa
135 Internet Cafes (NETucation)
 18 Citizen’s Post Offices (240 sites)
 600 PiT
 32 Digital Villages (Microsoft)
 196 Telecentres

Provincial Breakdown
80
69
70
Eastern Cape
Free State
60
Gauteng
50
KwaZulu-Natal
40
30
30
20
10
9
13
5
Limpopo
Mpumalanga
North West
1
2
0
2
3
Northern Cape
Western Cape
Internet Cafés
Franchises & Branches
Odyssey Internet Café (10)
 3@1 Communications (19)
 Jetline (10)

Pricing Models
Average Hourly Rate = R27
 Lowest = R6 per hour
 Highest = R75 per hour

Computers & other Peripherals
Average = 9
 Lowest is 1 or 2
 Highest is 29 (including laptops)
 Printers = 1.7
 Scanners = 1.3

Operating Hours
Average = 12
 6% operate 24x7
 44% closed on Sundays

Bandwidth




ADSL
MyWireless
Diginet
ISDN
Access Method
18%
ADSL
MyWireless
ISDN 64K
12%
59%
4%
ISDN 128K
Diginet
4%
3%
Unknown
The Future?
Wi-Fi Hotspots
 Cheaper Internet access
 Support from ISPA, et al.

Thank You
Contact Details:
 Ramon Thomas
 ramon@netucation.co.za
 082-940-7137
