Appalling DSL Statistics in SA

[GrammatonCleric]

A News24 tweet caught my eye this morning: SA 'united' against Zuma, says social media survey.

In that article, the following is stated:

According to Research ICT Africa, just 19.7% of South Africans live in a household with internet access of which only 22% have ADSL broadband access.

Then I started thinking. If only 22% of South African households have broadband internet access, why is Telkom's service as pathetic as it is?

I realize there are other factors such as voice and they maintain a larger telecommunications infrastructure, but does warrant the poor service given to individuals?

The article can be viewed here BTW: http://www.fin24.com/Tech/News/sa-united-against-zuma-says-social-media-survey-20160216

 

[MickeyD]

A News24 tweet caught my eye this morning: SA 'united' against Zuma, says social media survey.

In that article, the following is stated:

According to Research ICT Africa, just 19.7% of South Africans live in a household with internet access of which only 22% have ADSL broadband access.

Then I started thinking. If only 22% of South African households have broadband internet access, why is Telkom's service as pathetic as it is?

I realize there are other factors such as voice and they maintain a larger telecommunications infrastructure, but does warrant the poor service given to individuals?

The article can be viewed here BTW: http://www.fin24.com/Tech/News/sa-united-against-zuma-says-social-media-survey-20160216

Why have the other licensed network operators not invested in copper since the day that Neotel was formed? That will answer your question.


Note how eager they are to go straight to FTTH...

 

[LazyLion]

A News24 tweet caught my eye this morning: SA 'united' against Zuma, says social media survey.

In that article, the following is stated:

According to Research ICT Africa, just 19.7% of South Africans live in a household with internet access of which only 22% have ADSL broadband access.

Then I started thinking. If only 22% of South African households have broadband internet access, why is Telkom's service as pathetic as it is?

I realize there are other factors such as voice and they maintain a larger telecommunications infrastructure, but does warrant the poor service given to individuals?

The article can be viewed here BTW: http://www.fin24.com/Tech/News/sa-united-against-zuma-says-social-media-survey-20160216

22% of 19.7% means that only 4.334% of households in South Africa have ADSL.

 

[Sinbad]

OP also fails at maths.

19% have internet.

22% of those have broadband.

That means 4% of households have broadband.

 

[GrammatonCleric]

I was simply quoting an article. I didn't go into the math of it.

Why should I have to apply analytical logic when posing a question? Is it expected that I do?

Besides, the article says 19.7% of households have internet access and only 22% have broadband. Should I drill down and ask if the 4% that don't have Broadband still uses dial-up, or are the rest of the people using LTE or some other form of wireless connectivity...which still falls into the broadband scope...except for dial-up?

Come on...I'm not gonna speculate! It by no means suggests I suck at maths!

 

[Sinbad]

I was simply quoting an article. I didn't go into the math of it.

Why should I have to apply analytical logic when posing a question? Is it expected that I do?

You claimed you started thinking.

Then I started thinking. If only 22% of South African households have broadband internet access, why is Telkom's service as pathetic as it is?

I submit you had bad luck at it

 

[GrammatonCleric]

You claimed you started thinking.



I submit you had bad luck at it

Alright, fine. I'll admit to making a mistake.

We all know what assumptions are...I apologize

What I should have thought about are the different types of broadband as opposed to 'assuming' that all connections are solely DSL connections using copper cables.

My bad :|

 

[MickeyD]

I was simply quoting an article. I didn't go into the math of it.

Why should I have to apply analytical logic when posing a question? Is it expected that I do?

Besides, the article says 19.7% of households have internet access and only 22% have broadband. Should I drill down and ask if the 4% that don't have Broadband still uses dial-up, or are the rest of the people using LTE or some other form of wireless connectivity...which still falls into the broadband scope...except for dial-up?

Come on...I'm not gonna speculate! It by no means suggests I suck at maths!

Or go look in the "Broadband and IT News" section and find the article...

 

[The_Librarian]

tsk, tsk, an unprepared Grammaton Cleric nogal...


...go back to the Tetragrammaton Council for more training, and drugs

 

[GrammatonCleric]

Or go look in the "Broadband and IT News" section and find the article...

I can't find this specific article in the Broadband and IT News section. Which article are you referring to?

tsk, tsk, an unprepared Grammaton Cleric nogal...


...go back to the Tetragrammaton Council for more training, and drugs

It seems I should. However, I apologized and admitted to my mistake. It's a lack of sleep (training) and coffee (drugs)

I hope I'm not digging my grave deeper...

 

[Sinbad]

Nah, coffee is acceptable

 

[netstrider]

Well, since no answer to the question has been formulated I'll give my cents:

• Telkom is a parastatal
• Their revenues have come down from analogue phone calls with the advent of cheaper mobile calls
• They prevented Neotel from becoming a fixed line competitor in the ADSL (copper) space, so, being a monopoly they don't have to deliver
• Revenues are paid in bonuses to the CEOs and government investors rather than being invested in upgrading infrastructure and providing support
• Because of the reasons above they have retrenched thousands which impacts the levels of service they can maintain
• Their staff knows much less than the average mybroadband user about their own technologies and services
• They don't install lines in many areas because they are either lazy or blame it on copper theft
• They force people who only want ADSL to subscribe to phone line rental, making the barrier for entry higher for those on lower incomes and subsequently losing out on potential customers and revenue
• Without any competition laying infrastructure into many remote areas on their constrained budget is difficult - compounded by reasons mentioned above
• Their focus of late has been on Fibre and LTE

22% of 19.7% is indeed 4.334% the numbers still don't add up as Telkom has around 1 million ADSL subscribers and the population is 52.98 million according to the World Bank which means 2296153 at least should have ADSL or VDSL subscription.

 

[Icemanbrfc]

Well, since no answer to the question has been formulated I'll give my cents:

• Telkom is a parastatal
• Their revenues have come down from analogue phone calls with the advent of cheaper mobile calls
• They prevented Neotel from becoming a fixed line competitor in the ADSL (copper) space, so, being a monopoly they don't have to deliver
• Revenues are paid in bonuses to the CEOs and government investors rather than being invested in upgrading infrastructure and providing support
• Because of the reasons above they have retrenched thousands which impacts the levels of service they can maintain
• Their staff knows much less than the average mybroadband user about their own technologies and services
• They don't install lines in many areas because they are either lazy or blame it on copper theft
• They force people who only want ADSL to subscribe to phone line rental, making the barrier for entry higher for those on lower incomes and subsequently losing out on potential customers and revenue
• Without any competition laying infrastructure into many remote areas on their constrained budget is difficult - compounded by reasons mentioned above
• Their focus of late has been on Fibre and LTE

22% of 19.7% is indeed 4.334% the numbers still don't add up as Telkom has around 1 million ADSL subscribers and the population is 52.98 million according to the World Bank which means 2296153 at least should have ADSL or VDSL subscription.

Zuma will rather quote double digit percentages, instead of having to go through 2 million, 500 thousand 800 and 67 users lol

 

[MickeyD]

Well, since no answer to the question has been formulated I'll give my cents:

• Telkom is a parastatal - No, they are a listed company but due to the +-39% State shareholding, they are a SOC (not a SOE).
• Their revenues have come down from analogue phone calls with the advent of cheaper mobile calls - True
• They prevented Neotel from becoming a fixed line competitor in the ADSL (copper) space, so, being a monopoly they don't have to deliver - False. Neotel decided to use CDMA.
• Revenues are paid in bonuses to the CEOs and government investors rather than being invested in upgrading infrastructure and providing support - False. A significant portion of income is retained for Capex purposes.
• Because of the reasons above they have retrenched thousands which impacts the levels of service they can maintain - Only partially true. E.g. technology changes have also impacted staff requirements.
• Their staff knows much less than the average mybroadband user about their own technologies and services - Partially true. Their support staff only know their dedicated functions such as HR, Finance, Stock Control, Properties, etc. There are plenty of very knowledgeable folks at Telkom.
• They don't install lines in many areas because they are either lazy or blame it on copper theft - False. All decisions are based on financial feasibility. Copper theft is indeed a big problem and they have a three strikes policy.
• They force people who only want ADSL to subscribe to phone line rental, making the barrier for entry higher for those on lower incomes and subsequently losing out on potential customers and revenue - True. However Naked ADSL will still include a portion of that copper line rental cost.
• Without any competition laying infrastructure into many remote areas on their constrained budget is difficult - compounded by reasons mentioned above - It makes more sense to provide wireless solutions in remote areas.
• Their focus of late has been on Fibre and LTE - Very true

22% of 19.7% is indeed 4.334% the numbers still don't add up as Telkom has around 1 million ADSL subscribers and the population is 52.98 million according to the World Bank which means 2296153 at least should have ADSL or VDSL subscription.

My responses are above...

You are also confusing "households" with "subscribers". It is not a 1:1 correlation.

 

[netstrider]

My responses are above...

You are also confusing "households" with "subscribers". It is not a 1:1 correlation.

Of course not.

• No, they are a listed company but due to the +-39% State shareholding, they are a SOC (not a SOE). - Fair comment, still major government influence however.
• False. Neotel decided to use CDMA. - Did Neotel decide this or was it decided behind the scenes for them?
• False. A significant portion of income is retained for Capex purposes. - As with any company, although I suspect they have much more wasteful expenditure than most regular companies without government influence.
• Only partially true. E.g. technology changes have also impacted staff requirements. - At the same time we can say subscribers to their services have increased and that phone lines/ADSL/VDSL require pretty much the same infrastructure - and with that I mean working copper lines first and foremost.
• Partially true. Their support staff only know their dedicated functions such as HR, Finance, Stock Control, Properties, etc. There are plenty of very knowledgeable folks at Telkom. - Yes, there are knowledgeable people, else how would they have a network at all? My response pertains to the folks 99.9% of us get to talk to when something goes awry. That's where the difference lies.
• False. All decisions are based on financial feasibility. Copper theft is indeed a big problem and they have a three strikes policy. - It is a big problem, yet some users have announced copper theft once in 20-odd years and Telkom refuses to replace their lines. How do you explain that? Since it's their infrastructure they should put more pressure on police enforcement rather than pass on the problem to the consumer.
• True. However Naked ADSL will still include a portion of that copper line rental cost. - Certainly wouldn't justify the current rate being charged. Savings in the end.
• It makes more sense to provide wireless solutions in remote areas. - Which they don't do.

 

[MickeyD]

• Fair comment, still major government influence however. - Not with the current chairman of the Board, no.
• Did Neotel decide this or was it decided behind the scenes for them? - Neotel, all by themselves. However, the State absolutely screwed Neotel in the naught by not allowing LLU or even Facilities Leasing.
• As with any company, although I suspect they have much more wasteful expenditure than most regular companies without government influence. - Maybe a few years ago, but not in the recent past.
• At the same time we can say subscribers to their services have increased and that phone lines/ADSL/VDSL require pretty much the same infrastructure - and with that I mean working copper lines first and foremost. - With the automation of many processes in all divisions of Telkom, thousands of staff became redundant. This is from billing to call centres to support functions to technical functions. One mistake Telkom did make was allowing highly skilled, experience staff to leave (with nice retrenchment packages). Another huge mistake was the termination of the apprenticeship program for technical staff.
• Yes, there are knowledgeable people, else how would they have a network at all? My response pertains to the folks 99.9% of us get to talk to when something goes awry. That's where the difference lies. - These are most Call Centre based "agents". Most of them are not technical and not even part of Telkom any more, but an outsourced company. Biggest stuff up Telkom ever made... Call centres!!!
• It is a big problem, yet some users have announced copper theft once in 20-odd years and Telkom refuses to replace their lines. How do you explain that? Since it's their infrastructure they should put more pressure on police enforcement rather than pass on the problem to the consumer. - It is based on the exchange area, not the individual customer. If the area has been designated an high risk area... tough luck. SAPS have not motivation to patrol Telkom cable routes.
• Certainly wouldn't justify the current rate being charged. Savings in the end. - Initially there will be no savings. That will only be realised after a few years.
• Which they don't do. - Of course they do, either via LTE, 3G or some other FLLA service.

See above...