Forming an Action Committee

[DragonLogos]

Just a thought.

It might be an idea to get a group of people together that can look at ideas and get them rolling. For example someone comes up with an idea for a protest, then it can be discussed and fine tuned, then things can get moving, people who are good at getting emails done can send them out, people who design things can make everything look nice... and so on

[ghoti]

www.antitrust.co.za were meeting tonight

[DragonLogos]

That was quick

[ghoti]

like a lesser spotted reticulated rabbit

[MaD]

Or a south siberian reed goat..
Who's all gonna be at the meeting?

[ghoti]

there were a bunch of there. dont really wanna mention names publicly

[Peapod]

My opinion:
I think the forum should remain unanimous in public activity matters - stick to our formula of constant pressure in the press and with industry and use the channels we always have for this - ie, IC and RPM.
I think for activism, we should put our energy into AntiTrust (antitrust.co.za) and mobilise there.
The active campaigns and consumer watch takes up the gauntlet for individuals who need help (like ADSL in Cloetesville and Mandini for example) , active media campaigns, active consumer complaints, active other avenues of recourse (other consumer bodies, letters to industry, government and so on) in the name of the forum.
Given the heat that is on at the moment on a number of fronts, I am very concerned that the forum doesnt get dragged into debate that could harm our reputation or our standing in the industry.
A few people walking the wire on this forum is unfair to the large majority of other forumees who prefer to remain supportive but uninvolved on a personal level. By default, everybody on Antitrust is committed to action; interested parties should rally there and post progress here.
just my 2 cents worth.

[DragonLogos]

Well...

One of the things I think should be looked into is:

Are schools getting their 50% discount as promised by Ivy - Now here I would think you need to build up or contact someone that has something to do with schools and has a huge email list.

Also I have a funny feeling that the press and media are going to be more active with reporting on the state of communications the future

[Peapod]

Are schools getting their 50% discount as promised by Ivy - Now here I would think you need to build up or contact someone that has something to do with schools and has a huge email list.

Good point. A starting point would be to write to the minister of communication and ask precisely that - "do telkom give schools a 50% discount?" and attach the relevant piece of legislation/minuted speech from Ivy or whatever and then act according to the response with government, Telkom, Press, whatever till there is exposure, good or bad.
Any volunteers to get this ball rolling?

[DragonLogos]

OK... I am going to get the Computer Club to send out a few emails, I was thinking of sending one to Dept of Education, One to Deptment of Comunications, and then to some schools. Any ideas?

[Peapod]

OK... I am going to get the Computer Club to send out a few emails, I was thinking of sending one to Dept of Education, One to Deptment of Comunications, and then to some schools. Any ideas?

great idea. i think to keep things consistent, perhaps post what you intend to write here before you send it so we can edit and comment for conformity's sake.
go for it.

[DragonLogos]

Perhap some of the people here can do a random contact of schools in their area, as I mentioned it appears that only public schools get this discount. I can try and get info from schools in the Eastern Cape. Anyone up for Cape Town, JHB, Durban and so on

I thought I would keep it short and to the point - one thing I am not 100% sure of, I don't know if anyone else knows, but as I recall it was 50% discount on Internet subs and call charges - It has now been six months since this should have been implemented, and nearly a year since it was announced.

I would have thought that before the announcement was made the parties concerned were consulted, and they had all their meetings and memos, draft proposals, 11th hour repentances.... and then there was then over six months to make sure that everything would be in place for it's implementation.

School is over in a few months, taken in context that the SNO is nearly two and a half years over due one can only wonder - I trust that these schools will be getting a credit (albeit with out interest paid, which is what Telkom charge you if you are just one day late)

I want to send out two letters, one for DOE & DOC - another to the Schools - Perhaps even a letter to Hans Van De Groenendaal of Telkom... unless someone would like to give him a call

Here is what I have so far:

We are busy researching how many schools are benefiting from the 50% discount on call charges and Internet connection fees that was announced by Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri the Minister communications in September 2004 and due to come into effect at the beginning of January 2005

Could you please be so kind to inform us what progress has been made in regard to this matter

We refer to this article by PAUL VECCHIATTO, ITWEB CAPE TOWN CORRESPONDENT ' Schools not getting their half-price Internet '

ITWeb, 3 March 2005 - Schools are not receiving the 50% Internet connectivity discount they are entitled to because the Department of Education (DOE) is still compiling a register of its needs, a spokesman says

Department of Education spokesman Tommy Makhode says: “While it is a priority for us, we are still compiling a register of needs that includes cheaper Internet connectivity for schools

In September last year, communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri announced that schools were entitled to a 50% reduction in their Internet fees. This was gazetted a month later as part of the overall telecommunications liberalisation announcement. This discount came into effect on 1 January

However, two months later, very few of the country's estimated 24 000 schools have seen the benefit of this discount and they are not likely to soon as the DOE has not made any plans to allow schools to fast track the procedure to register with Telkom.

“No, there are no formal plans to allow schools to register directly with Telkom,” Makhode says.

Telkom spokesman Hans Van De Groenendaal says some schools are receiving the discount, but he could not say how many.

“Our main problem is that we need to reconcile the school telephone numbers are legitimate, because some school phone numbers are not in their names, rather they are in the names of their principals or companies that sponsor them,” he says

[noosh]

I checked up our schools internet bill and it is R20 000 per month for a 32kb/s connection leased line. Now considering the amount of people at our school the internet is almost unusable most of the time. Now we are a private school but we should still be allowed a faster usable internet connection. It takes me hours to do research because of the slow internet connection. We have 550 boys at our school and it is a boarding school so the internet is used full time. At any time we could have a minimum of 60 or so students using the internet and this number can rise rapidly. Now divide the internet speed by the users and you get a useless connection.

Educational institutions need lower priced internet access!

[Debbie]

This is an excellent idea Dragon, and I will get on it on Tuesday.

[Perdition]

I checked up our schools internet bill and it is R20 000 per month for a 32kb/s connection leased line. Now considering the amount of people at our school the internet is almost unusable most of the time. Now we are a private school but we should still be allowed a faster usable internet connection. It takes me hours to do research because of the slow internet connection. We have 550 boys at our school and it is a boarding school so the internet is used full time. At any time we could have a minimum of 60 or so students using the internet and this number can rise rapidly. Now divide the internet speed by the users and you get a useless connection.

Educational institutions need lower priced internet access!

I hope that's kiloBYTES per second as R20k seems far too excessive. Why doesn't the school get ADSL?