Broadband battle
Telkom and Vodacom do battle over the title of ‘leading broadband provider’ in South Africa
Telkom and Vodacom do battle over the title of ‘leading broadband provider’ in South Africa
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Broadband battle
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Gatecrasher
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No-one is deserving of this title in this broadband hellhole we live in.
And after yesterday's pitiful ' SAT3 prices similar to SEACOM' story and all the questions it raises, I would have hoped for a following up story asking some damn important questions and getting some sensible and informative answers.
But no, let's have another beauty contest.
I vote "other", since there is nowhere to abstain.
And after yesterday's pitiful ' SAT3 prices similar to SEACOM' story and all the questions it raises, I would have hoped for a following up story asking some damn important questions and getting some sensible and informative answers.
But no, let's have another beauty contest.
I vote "other", since there is nowhere to abstain.
I disagree with this attitude. What you are actually saying is that we should not encourage competition, and that everyone is equally bad. Competition is what improved broadband worldwide, and the same is happening in South Africa.
What would you suggest will improve broadband more than encouraging competition? How should it be implemented?
Gatecrasher
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I just haven't noticed it happening. I've been on ADSL for two and a half years, and apart from one drop in ADSL rental, nothing has changed. All the bandwdith packages, from IS to SAIX from ISP to ISP are all basically the same and the same price. You can't say its happening when it is not happening.
Competition works when there is a fair and transparent playing field. But show me a fair playing field in SA? Never mind a transparent one.
So open the local loop. Scrap or slash interconnect fees. Amend the EC Act to give the regulator teeth to enact brutal regulation to ensure a fair playing field. Let there be national investment in infrastructure if that is what it takes.
Then lets have competition, but we can't afford to remain in the dark ages while competition-SA-style takes its sweet time.
However much they would like to disguise the fact, Telkom and Vodacom are not broadband leaders, they're rather ugly oligopolies that are holding this country and its people to ransom.
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I agree that there is not competition in the ADSL access market. But here I am talking about the broadband market - look at the price decreases over the last few years - surely that must count for something? The price cuts in the mobile broadband space was significant to say the least: definitely partly a result of competition.
I agree completely. But here you put your trust in ICASA and Government, something which I feel is less effective than encouraging competition.
Maybe I should explain it in terms of sport. Why I encourage things like ‘who is the best broadband provider’ or ‘the battle for the leading broadband provider’ is similar to awarding the winner of Wimbledon with a grand slam title. The guys competing fight for that title. If it is decided in a specific year that the level of play is too low to award the title and trophy, will the players even bother to enter? Definitely not the top guys!
Competition is good, even if the level service is currently poor in relation to international standards.
Gatecrasher
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Yeah, but if you start high enough, like say say R50/Mb
, any cut down to just-affordable-for-the-middle-class it is going to seem significant. But it is a long, long time now since we've seen any sizable progress, even in mobile broadband pricing. And what is the marginal cost of mobile bandwidth? It is still stuck at +-R200/gig. Where is the progress? It hasn't moved in at least 2 years.As things stand, ICASA are worse than useless. They're bogged down in a spiral of everburgeoning red tape, as promulgated by the dreaded EC ACT.
ICASA can't cough without someone filing a lawsuit or holding them to ransom. What kind of regulator is that? Our only hope is our new minister, not that I have a lot of hope in that direction either.
But the lack of effective regulation does not mean we have to pretend that there is real competition at work.
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Just to enlighten you the current Mobile data rate with MTN is R0.18/MB 2GB bundle that expires after 60 Days now and has effectively halved my cost or doubled my "Cap" wichever way you wish to look at it.
Gatecrasher
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Sorry, I stand corrected. R180 per gig, not +-R200 per gig as i was so erroneously pointing out. While you may think 2GB spread out over 2 months constitutes broadband, it doesn't, not really.
Yeah, but if you start high enough, like say say R50/Mb
As things stand, ICASA are worse than useless. They're bogged down in a spiral of everburgeoning red tape, as promulgated by the dreaded EC ACT.
ICASA can't cough without someone filing a lawsuit or holding them to ransom. What kind of regulator is that? Our only hope is our new minister, not that I have a lot of hope in that direction either.
But the lack of effective regulation does not mean we have pretend that there is real competition at work.
Why on earth are you using such an academic way of writing?
/on topic: Like I said, Telkom is the leader. They provide almost everyone's bandwidth even if you are with ISP A or B. The quickest way to ensure good competition and therefore great pricing is LLU. And that will not happen soon, which means they will remain the leader for some time to come.
I use my cell phone once a week to get a weather report, does that make me a Vodacom broad band user? I'm 1.5km from the Vodacom Mast and I can never hold a 3g connection longer than a few minutes. My ADSL is up to speed 24 hours a day. You have to compare apples with apples. Mobile will never compare when it comes to QOS. 3G is fantastically convenient, but frustrates the hell out of me when it keeps reverting to GPRS.
Lazy
Senior Member
Sure, but to get that you have to pay R389. This price tag means it is out of reach for the people who would most benefit from that reduced price.
Lazy
Senior Member
I had the same problem. I'm in sandton and even though I get Vodacom 3G reception now (I never used to) the MTN signal here is much more stable. Though even with MTN the connection drops which is irritating.
So I took my vodafone mobile connect card and installed the generic Huawei software on it. Now I can dial into both networks with it, and for the last 2 months or so, my connectivity on both networks seem better with the Huawei software.
Sting
Ghost in the Machine
Exactly what I wanted to say!!
Just because I have a 3G capable Vodacom contract phone and have experimented by accessing a web site with it (once), am I counted as a Vodacom broadband user?
I have to agree. How can we truly be discussing broadband in SA if we are like slugs off the starting in the international broadband race.
Internationally they are talking about increasing the line speeds to 20Mbps and beyond and here we are discussing increasing caps to 2Gb and possibly 7Mbps in 9 to 12 months! Come on!
ShaunSA
Derailment Squad
Any bets on the winner using "Leading Broadband Provider as voted by SA's top broadband site" in their future advertising? 
I'm voting other cos I think they all suck and none of them deserve any title!
I'm voting other cos I think they all suck and none of them deserve any title!
i'm with gatecrasher on this
choosing the tastiest turd to eat will still leave you with a crap taste in your mouth
at one point we had 30GB international adsl accounts. and before that we had uncapped local adsl accounts, from Telkom themselves. and now? we are moving backwards faster than we are going forward.
choosing the tastiest turd to eat will still leave you with a crap taste in your mouth
at one point we had 30GB international adsl accounts. and before that we had uncapped local adsl accounts, from Telkom themselves. and now? we are moving backwards faster than we are going forward.