Napoleon Adok Gai, the Director General of the National Communication Authority - Credit: Ministry of ICT and Postal Services

The National Communication Authority is expediting the installation of fibre optic cable saying the country risks lagging in the digital transformation.

Napolean Adok says the cost of the internet remains significantly high and challenging for many young people who are seeking jobs online.

Mr Adok says an optic cable to boost internet connectivity has reached Torit in the Eastern Equatorial State and will be operational before the end of this month.

Adok also says a fibre cable connecting Juba and Wau in Western Bahr El Ghazal State has reached Rumbek.

This will be completed in December or January this year to improve communication services.

The National Communication Authority Director General made the remarks during a forum on Tuesday, October 10, in Juba on Internet Governance.

“With all the technology, the exponential expansion can happen overnight. Right now, we have a fibre cable that has reached Torit, probably before the end of the month. They will make it active and you will see what will happen in Torit,” Adok said.

“The same thing, the cable now between Wau and Juba, is in Rumbek, we are hoping to resolve some issues so that the operator can deliver that cable to Juba by December, latest January,” he said.

“The communication services all the way from Lakes State up to Barh El Ghazal can improve and as those are being down, we are making our efforts to make sure the cost remains down.”

“The internet cost in our country still remains very high and that is really a challenge for many young people who are looking for jobs online trying their luck.”

“Without a proper internet, without proper broadband, our country risks being left behind in the digital transformation and will not benefit from the digital economy that we are advocating”.

Adok also recommends that the government enact what he describes as a “Data Protection Law” to protect the government from going digital.

“Before we spoke about the authority shutting down the internet, I was laughing because how do you shut down something you don’t have? So, it means that for those who wrote the reports and those who collected, it is our responsibility to provide them with the right facts, the areas where we need them to recommend even better things.” Adok said.

“One thing I have thought that they would urgently request and recommend is, the government to enact data protection law if we are going to go digital to have e-government, even that e-government needs to be protected.”

The one-day forum is held under the theme: “The Internet We Want: Empowering all South Sudanese People”.

On Monday, October 9, the Commissioner-General of NRA warned the government of leakage in its communications as internet services and requested the National Communications Authority to bring fibre optic for government usage.