Telkom clarifies ‘70% international bandwidth reduction’ claim

And they still make a sizeable profit even after the reductions.
 
The article makes the assumption that the costs dropped since 2002. I don't think that is true. The cost dropped recently. So you can compare 2005 and 2006.

Now why did the cost dropped in the last couple of months? What happened? :p
 
When one however compares the 2002 retail rate with the new 2006 wholesale rates based on a 5 year term the reduction ranges between 68% and 71%, with an average reduction of 69%.
Click to expand...

But Lulu is not comparing apples with apples. Surely the retail rate of 2006 must be compared to the retail rate of 2002, both with no contract discounts. She is comparing the cheapest option currently (wholesale rate 5-year contract) with the most expensive option in 2002 (retail rate month-to-month contract).

Edit:

RPM - Please follow up with Telkom and BBC regarding this. Lulu Letlape is not comparing apples with apples. Her original quote was: "Since the introduction of the Sat3 cable to the market in 2002, international bandwidth prices for South African users reduced by approximately 70%." The word "users" to me indicates the price the end user effectively pays - ie retail rate. The comparison matrix must be changed so that the retail rate of 2002 is compared with the current retail rate of 2006. So the retail rate of today (27-03-2006) must be used, and not some future date (1 April 2006) when prices might come down. The same contract term conditions must also be used. There is no point comparing a discounted 5-year contract rate to a overpriced month-to-month contract.
 
Last edited:
Just goes to show they were ripping off this country from the start. There was lots of supply and little demand, and they still enforced the cost structure, nobody could afford it then! Typical of the b@tch to refer to the Leased line "cost savings" as where MyADSL represents the broadband arena on this forum and not the leased line specifics. She uses an argument how the Leased line cost reductions since 2002 for current broadband consumer issues. Typical of the brainless Tyrant TELKOM goons! with their forked tongues and mindless BS they feed tha media and uninformed consumers!

Lulu look at my phone bill and explain that difference since 2002 when you reduced the call unit times illegally and then again since Nov 2005 when you implemented the Per Gig biling like a thieve in the night.
 
That's nothing ... in 2002 I used to charge R 90 and hour for the use of my pc.
Now it's like 2006 - some 4 years later, my PC has depreciated about 120%.
I cannot even insure it any more.

So now I only charge like R 15 an hour to people who use it for learning how to type.
That's like 90 / 15 - 100% = 83% savings !!! Wow.

But ... for people using the PC to play pacman on, I charge R18 rand an hour. That's a bit less of a saving, but still good value for money.

Yea ... I know everybody wants to play BF2 on these machines, and I know that I'm the only person in South Africa that has computers for this purpose, and I know the rest of the world charges 5 rand an hour for a much better service, but ... who is going to stop me ?

Buy new machines ? NO ways ... I'm revelling in my profit ... go away !
 
What happened to the drop in price by the end of this month (or was it next month) that everyone was talking about or was i on crack at the time i thought i was reading that?
 
Telkom is just playing with figures - there is no justification to compare 2002 retail rates with 2006 wholesale rates(subject to 5 year contracts)
 
ic said:
rpm, how about a followup article with the figures from 2002,2003,2004,2005,2006 all tabulated for comparison?
Click to expand...

And don't compare retail and wholesale. Have a table for retail and another table for wholesale.
 
"** Rates based on a 5-year term discount"

Does that mean that only if you sign a 5 year contract does the price equal a 70% decrease?

Smoke and mirrors methinks.
 
Would love to know who / if anyone in any major corporate would sign a 5 year contract with Telkom for this, thats just plain madness in todays changing telecommunications market.
edit: before I go off chanting that corporates are fools, can we get an unambigious clarification of what exactly Rates based on a 5-year term discount means in Telkoms eyes, is this a hard and fast contract?
 
Hmmm

“All of these reductions were passed on through to the customers, however the wholesale rates are only applicable to wholesale customers,” Telkom said.
Click to expand...

And with Telkom being both wholesalers and retailers... they saying that the fact that we are only seeing a tiny reduction in reality is who's fault?
 
There can only be one two reasons for this cra@p that Telk0m is putting out there. a) Lulu is trying to get an increase or promotion so she's spewing out figures that will confuse her superiors (Remember the higher up in Telk0m you are the lower your IQ, its a pre-requisite) b) They need to soften up shareholders for the BCX deal so that everyone will jump on the bandwagon. c) The world has gone mad and Telk0m is practising fair trade and charging us "average" rates. PS: Nessie is having twins at the Loch Ness Zoo.:p
 
Someone should really point this out to the BBC. Unlike our local press who get advertising money from Telkom, the overseas media (especially European and American media!) have a VERY dim view of people lying to them.
 
Franna said:
Ditto WillS.

Here is the original BBC article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4787422.stm

We should send a follow-up email to BBC exposing the Telkom lies.
Click to expand...

:) Already have! My comment (although somewhat censored) was used on the site. Also those of other MyADSL forumites :)

Thanks guys!

I really believe this is the one thing we can nail Telkom with. We have so much more ammunition if we can get the international media on our side! Imagine if Telscum's investors in New York hear of this :eek:

I sometimes wonder if their NY shareholders even know what Telkom is charging and doing.
 
How can they justify comparing wholesale and retail prices? It's absolutely fcking ridiculous! Although, I must say I'm very impressed with Telkom finding some way to make LooLoo's statements make some kind of sense, even if it's completely false, I suspect some people will take it at face value if it wasn't for this community.

In her original statement it was implied that there was a 70% reduction in price to the people of South Africa. Not fcking leased lines, leased lines are for very large businesses for the love of Christ.

Argh, it makes me sick! I hope the BBC doesn't accept this BULLSHIAT!
 
Last edited:
Here's the original BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4787422.stm
"Since the introduction of the Sat3 cable to the market in 2002, international bandwidth prices for South African users reduced by approximately 70%," spokeswoman Lulu Letlape told the BBC News website.
Click to expand...

Her clarification is basically just to shut up the South African consumers. I'd like the BBC print a retraction on her statement since bandwidth prices for USERS have NOT reduced by 70%.

Also, I agree with allyoucaneat. I'd like to see a annual comparison of the rates from 2002, not just 2002 then skip to 2006.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X