SA’s can-do attitude

The phenomenon that is SA democracy continues to create an environment conducive to innovation. Recent challenging events must not distract us from appreciating that so much has been achieved in the country over the past three free decades.

This is particularly so on the mobile front after South Africans adopted the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) digital cellular standard, at about the same time we ushered in a new democratic beginning.

We swiftly made democracy our own with innovations such as a progressive constitution, 11 official languages and unheard of institutions such as the Truth & Reconciliation Commission and even the Constitutional Court — which remains a relative rarity anywhere. Similarly, we have injected the African spirit of innovation into GSM.

This can-do attitude, so often expressed as “don’t worry, I’ll make a plan”, saw SA become the first country to provide unbroken digital mobile coverage across its highways, while developed world countries were still coping with a patchwork of analogue and digital cellular standards.

The world’s first mall dedicated to cellular technology was launched in Midrand way back in 1996. We were also the first to turn “prepaid cellular” into a runaway commercial success.

There isn’t enough space to list all of our mobile tech achievements, save to emphasise that they continue and this innovation will carry on delivering a better quality of life for more people, thanks to telecoms’ proven multiplier effect on GDP.

Anton Potgieter MD, Trabel