Is South Africa falling behind in the telco market?

I read so many telecommunication success stories in East Africa that it makes me wonder if South African is falling behind in this space. If not now then perhaps it is a question of when?

Examples abound ... the rest of Africa is picking up pace since the commissioning of Seacom and will accelerate when TEAMS goes live.

Kenya
I read with great interest that Safaricom has contracted Alvarion to implement a WiMax broadband network in Kenya. The WiMax network will connect urban and rurual users.

WiMax is an excellent alternative to ADSL if implemented properly. Think of WiMax as copper-in-the-sky connecting to the closest exchange and you get the picture.

Uganda
When I was in Uganda earlier this year plans were already underway by the Ugandan government to build a fibre optic network across the country connected to Seacom.

Rwanda
Rwandatel signed a deal with Seacomm a month or so ago providing their user base (3G and ADSL) with fast international access.

Likely
South Africa will most likely fall behind our Sub-Saharan cousins in the broadband market, whether it be in the price, access or service domains.

This isn't a problem but an opportunity that the rest of Africa is grabbing. Overall this is great news for the continent as the welfare of all countries in Africa impact one another.