Almost 1 000 South African Web sites are either already zero-rated or currently being approved for free access over fixed or mobile data, for the duration of the coronavirus (COVID-19) state of disaster.
This is according to the Internet Service Providers’ Association of South Africa (ISPA), which has introduced an online portal aimed at informing South African citizens of the sites that are zero-rated and to easily verify a Web site’s zero-rating status.
The association serves as an active industry body, facilitating exchange between the different independent Internet service providers, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa and other government structures, operators and ICT service providers in SA.
As a service to local Internet consumers, ISPA has committed to maintaining SA’s list of zero-rated Web sites, which is updated every Monday.
The association says its latest initiative is aimed at helping to contain the spread of COVID-19 and provide easy access to important sites, following extensive consultations with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), ISPA members, the educational community and the wider ICT industry.
With a large part of the education sector still continuing online studies under the COVID-19 level three lockdown, the DCDT earlier this month outlined directions on the zero-rating of content and Web sites for the education and health sectors.
In the Government Gazette, the DCDT notes the directions are to provide a framework for the zero-rating of sites and indicates the application process to have the Web sites zero-rated.
Vodacom and MTN say they have zero-rated over a hundred Web sites each, while Telkom has zero-rated over 60 education sites, including those of higher learning institutions.
“Before ISPA’s engagement with its members and the DCDT around the creation and maintenance of a list of free-to-access COVID-critical Web sites, we saw people who had initially requested zero-rating resorting to testing it themselves,” says Guy Halse, ISPA co-chairman.
“There is no such thing as automatic zero-rating of educational resources. Schools, universities and colleges should note that zero-rating always has to be applied for and they should regularly follow-up their applications with the relevant government department.”
ISPA says it continues to urge its ISP members and other ICT service providers to take steps to support Internet users engaged in online education during the COVID-19 national disaster period.
These steps may include zero-rating educational traffic, temporarily increasing bandwidth caps for some customers, or even providing limited free "lifeline" data packages.
Any Web-based educational or health resource which helps to meet challenges created by the pandemic may apply to be zero-rated.
“ISPA continues to work closely with partners at Tertiary Education and Research Network of South Africa and many other relevant stakeholders to develop practical advice for ISPs on how to identify national educational resources,” says ISPA.
It should be noted that zero-rating Internet traffic is complex and requires the co-operation of all levels of network providers. Furthermore, not all network configurations can support zero-rating.
The inherent intricacies of the process notwithstanding, consumers still need to know which sites are zero-rated as some are reportedly checking mobile data airtime balances to determine if a local Web site deemed critical to beating COVID-19 has, in fact, been zero-rated.
The application either has to be approved by the Department of Basic Education, the Department of Higher Education and Training or the Department of Health, and each entity has its own set of criteria.
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