Another presentation

[FredAfriquie]

Hi Guys,

I follow this forum since few time and I decide to create an account.

Who Am I ?
I'm French guy living in SA since one year.
I love traveling, I touch 4 continents, just missing one.
I mix my hobby and my job. I worked in differents countries (Uk, spain, Italia, Germany).

What I'm doing ?
My job is in relation with internet, I'm a web developer.
Coding most of the time in Php, Perl, JS and Css. I used to code in ASP, .Net and Delphi, but it so far now ;(

Honestly, I'm quite frustrate about internet in SA. Specially if I compare with Europe. But SA is not only that ;)

See you around,

FredAfriquie

[Debbie]

Hey FredAfriquie

Welcome to the forums.

I take it you did not choose to come to South Africa for the internet....!

[FredAfriquie]

Thanks.



I take it you did not choose to come to South Africa for the internet....!

Well i didn't know the internet's status in SA. But If I have to go back I'll do the same choice !

I love this country

[Debbie]

Thanks.



Well i didn't know the internet's status in SA. But If I have to go back I'll do the same choice !

I love this country

Mind if I ask, what in particular makes SA different to France for you?

[Nod]

Mind if I ask, what in particular makes SA different to France for you?

It must be our superior red wine ;)

[FredAfriquie]

Differents are various:
- lifestyle
- weather
- people are more friendly (maybe because i'm french)
- country is wonderful
- culture is different for me and I'm quite curios

Regarding internet, you definitly don't want to know ;)

[FredAfriquie]

Hahahaha, easy.
I was sure this question will coming ;)

I'm a bad french. I don't like very much the French wine.
But since i'm here I start to appreciate it. And for sure, SA wine is very nice.
I still have couple of bottles in my place.

[Debbie]

Regarding internet, you definitly don't want to know ;)

How's your internet situation in France? If I understand correctly, consumers are not in nearly as bad a position as here in SA, but there is still massive room for improvement and more competition in telecoms in France.....??

[FredAfriquie]

Internet is France is pretty good.

Adsl cost between 30 euros/m (R280) and 50 euros/m (R470)
For this price you can have
- up to 18 Mbit/s unlimited bandwidth
- tv 200 channels & 50 radios
- free phone call for 28 countries
All with a simple phone line.

Most of ISP provide a box for this package.
Usually this box is router & wireless too.

There is few weeks ago the second ISP (free.fr), annonced a optical fiber connection
That mean 100 Mbit/s eish
Since the begining this ISP propose all packages for only 30 euros
From analogique line to vimax. and soon the fiber cable

Few years ago, there was a telkom monople (France Telecom). That change.
Actually there is about 4 majors ISP fro adsl
- Orange.fr (old France Telecom)
- free.fr
- cegetel.fr
- Alice.fr
- Neuf Telecom

[FredAfriquie]

I have a question.
Why Internet is so expensive in SA ?
And also why internet is limited by the bandwith ?

This is not a troll !!!

[Telkomisaloser]

/me ninjas FredAfriquie
/me greets the ninja'ed FredAfriquie

Welcome aboard :)

[Telkomisaloser]

I have a question.
Why Internet is so expensive in SA ?
And also why internet is limited by the bandwith ?

This is not a troll !!!

IMO theres only one word that answers all : Telkom :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

And not forgetting our beloved uncommunications minister Ivy which often leaves us behind

[FredAfriquie]

hi Telkomisaloser
I understand that but my question is why !

[lilDeath]

Hi Fred Afrique, welcome!
You are asking some really interesting questions. Are you sure you want to know? :)
Telkom is in control because they are part of the Government and the Government knows what is best for the country... Telecoms have being regulated since forever :rolleyes:
Well they should know better, but sadly, they don't. :(

That is the short answer. :)

[Debbie]

Wow, makes me jealous. I thought the internet in France was not quite as competitive as the picture you put across.

In SA the situation is this-
Telkom has had the fixed line monopoly since apartheid days.
Telkom's monopoly was supposed to end around the year 2001/2002.

But government is the majority shareholder in Telkom. Telkom is being used as a BEE engine and as a cash-cow for government. The entire system is corrupt and designed to benefit only select few.

We are fighting it, and we are fighting for fair telecoms prices. But we need more South Africans to become informed and aware of the situation, and for them to join us in speaking out about the damage that mismanagement in telecoms is doing to our country's economy and prospects for democracy.

[FredAfriquie]

Hello lilDeath

Yes i want to know !!

So from your point this is a government position.

In France we used have a similar story.
France Telecom, renamed as Orange, was a part of the Government.

The big idea was France Telecom (FT) maked massive investments to cover the country by lines.
So our government said to cover this investment, FT will have a telcommunication monopole for few time.

And there is few years, this monopole was finish to allow concurrence.

The same story will maybe appear again for the optical fiber.
To cover this, a huge investment is require. We talk about few billions euros during few years !!!

[FredAfriquie]

Debbie2

Thanks a lot for these informations.
This is quite interesting.


Telkom has had the fixed line monopoly since apartheid days.
Telkom's monopoly was supposed to end around the year 2001/2002.

Do you have some links from the government about this, please ?

I'm quite sad for SA about this situation.
But the government can't keep this for ever. I guess for 2010, that will be different.

That remind me the fight to break the FT monopole in France.

- January 1 2002: half end of FT monopole (but you still have to buy a phone line from them)
- January 1 2004: full end of FT monopole

As you can see in 4 years all changed

[Telkomisaloser]

hi Telkomisaloser
I understand that but my question is why !

5 words
It's all about the profit

[FredAfriquie]

Hahaha,
You seem frustrated Telkomisloser.
This is on other point I don't like in SA, corruption !!

I'm like you !!

[Telkomisaloser]

Call me TIAL(Short for my long nick)
LOL aren't we all frustrated with helkom and other idiotic companies trying to bleed our wallets to death

[Debbie]

FredAfriquie, there is so much information available. A lot of it is on this site, also www.hellkom.co.za and www.antitrust.co.za (which I am involved with - yes yes haven't updated in a while, will soon with this SCA Telcordia and CC/BCX thing).

Government links? Those exist too, but mostly they put on a face of public denial about what their policies are doing.

[Telkomisaloser]

Government links? Those exist too, but mostly they put on a face of public denial about what their policies are doing.

Like this site dedicated to the ShowerMan (http://friendsofjz.co.za.16.m6.net/index.asp)?

[FredAfriquie]

Call me TIAL(Short for my long nick)
LOL aren't we all frustrated with helkom and other idiotic companies trying to bleed our wallets to death

Got it ;)

[FredAfriquie]

Thanks guys for your help.
I appreciate a lot.

I will read these links asap and hopefully write an article ;)

Cheers

[Telkomisaloser]

Oi and you split the profit with me

[FredAfriquie]

I'm not write article for money.
This is just a hobby

[lilDeath]

Spread the Word, FredAfriquie!

[FredAfriquie]

I will, trust me ;)

[Freshy-ZN]

I love France. Travelled extensively though it. Not touristy stuff but travelling and mingling. Basque region: Hosegor, Biarritz - cant complain about the weather there! Alps, Pyrenees- awaesome snowboarding! Med coast - lifestyles of the rich and famous (and normal people) Paris - typical big european city but has its charms. Always said I wouldnt mind settling down in the South West of France someday.......

[Cara]

@Freshy-ZN ... it's really those Internet prices that convinced you isn't it? ;)

[Telkomisaloser]

/me ninjas Cara
/me greets the ninja'ed Cara

Sorry I had to ninja someone

[Freshy-ZN]

@Freshy-ZN ... it's really those Internet prices that convinced you isn't it? ;)


Sure....and the topless girls on the beaches!

[FredAfriquie]

hahaha, but in SA don't have topless girls as well ?

[FredAfriquie]

but the south of france is too expensive now.
The best spot is Spain.
Specially Barcelona, a subway can drop you on the beach.

[Freshy-ZN]

hahaha, but in SA don't have topless girls as well ?


Erm ja. just not many in my flavour. But seriously, the whole attitude is different there from nudity to working hours. After a while the topless thing stops becomming an obsession and just becomes a natural thing. Calvanistic Apartheid SA can be thanked for making us think women had stars intead of nipples.


I recall a some years back on a beach in Hossegor....This +-18 year old girl with a perfect body and bosoms that defied gravity stood next to me in one of those public beach showers. These showers werent inline but there were 4 shower heads around a central pole. So basically everyone faces everyone. Well, I was fresh off the boat as they say and was rather taken aback to put it mildy.....Thanks goodness for baggies and sunnies!

But after a while you just admired a pretty girl like you would one fully dressed.

Sorry I lost my train of thought there :p

[lilDeath]

Erm ja. just not many in my flavour. But seriously, the whole attitude is different there from nudity to working hours. After a while the topless thing stops becomming an obsession and just becomes a natural thing. Calvanistic Apartheid SA can be thanked for making us think women had stars intead of nipples.


I recall a some years back on a beach in Hossegor....This +-18 year old girl with a perfect body and bosoms that defied gravity stood next to me in one of those public beach showers. These showers werent inline but there were 4 shower heads around a central pole. So basically everyone faces everyone. Well, I was fresh off the boat as they say and was rather taken aback to put it mildy.....Thanks goodness for baggies and sunnies!

But after a while you just admired a pretty girl like you would one fully dressed.

Sorry I lost my train of thought there :p
No, please, tell us more :D

[(DmZ)Wrecky]

No, please, tell us more :D

Yes, and paint it well. I also grew up with those irritating sticky stars. And when you remove the stars, her bits are translucent. Holy issue this