Broadband prices to be slashed 65%

[rpm]

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Broadband/1018.html

 

[ld13]

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Broadband/1018.html

Hey rpm, why still up so late?

Onto the matter at hand. A 65% cut in broadband prices is welcome, but only If it happened yesterday already. This will probably only be done/available after the 2010 Europe linkup of the undersea cable. Wake me up when that happens please . . .

But it does Sound positive at least

 

[rpm]

Hey rpm, why still up so late?

To serve late night owls like you with fresh news

Onto the matter at hand. A 65% cut in broadband prices is welcome, but only If it happened yesterday already. This will probably only be done/available after the 2010 Europe linkup of the undersea cable. Wake me up when that happens please . . .

But it does Sound positive at least

It is a positive initiative, but only if there is an even stronger drive to introduce competition. It seem that Government is saying that companies will not come to the party and that competition will not do the trick despite the fact that they stifled competition for the last decade.

 

[Highflyer_GP]

Is it April 1st already?

4mbps @ R140pm? Sounds good, now if only they'd stop twiddling their thumbs and actually get to it...

One thing that really seems to irritate me is the constant bashing of the private sector in order to deliver. How on earth can they deliver when they are hindered by the state!!!

 

[ld13]

Hey rpm, why still up so late?

To serve late night owls like you with fresh news

Thanx rpm!
It's Always appreciated!

Is it April 1st already?

4mbps @ R140pm? Sounds good, now if only they'd stop twiddling their thumbs and actually get to it...

Is that 35% of the R400 ADSL Line Rental?
If that is how you worked it, this works out rather interesting! If Telkom cuts the price of the 4MB line by 20% like they did on 01/08/'07, each year we will see this:
2007 413
2008 330.4
2009 264.32
2010 211.456
2011 169.1648 Price by the time we Could have this 65% Cut

But then again, This is the ADSL Line Rental. Infraco will only be providing the cable/bandwidth and will have nothing to do with the Line Rental. What is the current Telkom Wholesale bandwidth prices? Would be nice to subtract the 65% from it and compare the prices.

 

[LabAnimal]

I'll Believe It When I See It



Yea its positive news, Yea prices have come down, but I'm still stuck with lowsy Shaped, Throttled (yes on uncapped) DSL. Backbone providers like SAIX & IS both don't offer lube for the Prices, Capacity & Quality of Service they're screwing us with!

I'm paying roughly R1300 a month for my bottom of the range Throttled & Shaped to death socalled uncapped service which is still way too expensive!. But given the choice...

So... when Infraco and Neotel and all the other clowns actually deliver on their promises... ... lack of words here, its all been said before!

 

[stoke]

I dunno what to say. I'm like ... speechless.

This person is taking my heard earned tax money and taking MY country's bandwidth with it, and then he's getting a private company to sell it back to me at a rate that is going to be cheaper than teklom's rate.

Then sometime in the future this "entity" that now "owns" MY country's bandwidth will be listed or, perhaps it is already listed, and somebody is going to make tons of mula out of selling MY country's assets to some private peeps.

Perhaps another minister had better get going with Trans/SpoorNet 2 and PostOffice 2. Quick quick before somebody else in governmint does.

P.S. After this is done, if anybody finds a piece of unused fibre installed somewhere, it belongs to Teklom 3.


BUT ... having moaned like that, I can take comfort in the fact that this move would bring about more competition, which is goooooood.

It's just a pity that the private sector is not allowed to do what this man is doing.

Spoze you've got to fight the unfair IVY trap using weapons from the IVY trap store.

 

[Toby]

Compare this to the Neotel/Tenet Prices

Have a look at this

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/1005.html

Do the Unions and Students know that Government may be putting a spanner in the works around this type access and concurrent improvement in Education.

I would imagine that the neotel/tenet deal has a clause that states it is dependent on Government not changing regulations or putting additional barriers is place in the name of NEPAD

 

[ldmelsa]

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Broadband/1018.html

Maybe Infraco will be privatized in the future.

 

[Sneeky]

One for the economics boffins, why would government allow another state controlled and owned entity to significantly undercut what is considered as the main revenue stream of a company that they own 38% shares in?
Makes no sense whatsoever!
Factor in the PIC investment as well and it seems highly unlikely.
Natural market forces must plot the course of progress, how can anyone in government act responsibly when they have a direct vested interest in more than one way with TELKOM.

Smoke and mirrors is all this is. TELKOM's well being / profitability / happiness is of much more importance to the government than the strife of the public.
That much is abundantly clear.

 

[dIRE]

The government should stick to governing and stop trying to run business's, they are just not good at it. A great example being Sentech. The government wants to press forward citing that the private sector has been unable to supply. Of course the private sector has not been able to supply as legislation has been protecting the monopoly (The government) now that legislation has started to relax free and fare competition will sort out pricing as we are starting to see. The Seacom cable is going to bring International broadband down by 95% the government initiative only by 35%, its all about making money, with the past example of our government (Telkom) the government is bent on keeping control as its a great money spinner. What you are seeing here is snippets of nationalism.

Lastly the excuse that Infraco has to do this is to supply bandwidth to the proposed telescope system is ludicrous, the governemt should rather take that money and put more into education or essential services like water and electricity. Electricity Oh a nother government business thats not doing that well. Eskom is the first company I have ever seen doing a advertising programme country wide asking people not use there product. What type of business is this? (Government controlled)

 

[bekdik]

Alec's ramblings are always a bolt from the blue ...

 

[risingtide]

the private sector would not invest quickly enough to ensure adequate broadband capacity for the giant radio telescope South Africa plans to build in the Karoo.

This is the key. It needs probably needs government guarantees and as long as a private company runs this how can such guarantees be given for anything?
Imagine the world wide scientific community being held to ransom by an ANCYL inspired trade union on strike, or a privatized monopolistic structure.

 

[rpm]

This is the key. It needs probably needs government guarantees and as long as a private company runs this how can such guarantees be given for anything? Imagine the world wide scientific community being held to ransom by an ANCYL inspired trade union on strike, or a privatized monopolistic structure.

I agree Risingtide. But what concerns me is that the private sector was not given the chance to ‘invest quickly enough’. Telkom had a monopoly until recently, and Neotel – which is also partly Government – is kept back by Gov itself. So how on earth do they know at what speed the private sector will invest and build infrastructure?

Look at MWEB rolling out WiMax – maybe a small project but they are willing to roll out an expensive WiMax network without any guarantees! And did it in weeks rather than months!

 

[Ozymandias]

A 65% cut on current SA prices by 2010?? The rest of the world will most probably have had a 65% cut in their prices by then leaving us with the same gap as we have now. Apart from the price, what speeds and data allocations are we going to have in 2010? I suppose expecting 40Gb/s uncapped is a stretch but I sure hope that 4Mb/s with a 3GB cap is no longer classified as broadband.

 

[krycor]

Erwin said the undersea cable would be laid in a unique public-private partnership with investors he declined to identify.

Exactly what u don't wanna hear. I'm thinking the usual suspects will be involved and won't be surprised if this cable will become the de facto cable and red tape cut due to who these investors are.

 

[kifoth]

We've heard this before from other quarters...

Neotel’s Managing Director, Ajay Pandey, said that the price for certain telecoms offerings could be 75% cheaper than what they are today

Neotel’s MD further gave some hope to those looking for true broadband: “… the common man will be able to see access to a higher speed of internet in the quarter two of 2007,” Pandey said.

http://mybroadband.co.za/nephp/index.php?m=show&opt=printable&id=5161

IBIWISI

 

[Strobemeister]

Good news indeed. Thanks for posting, rpm.
But i'm just as concerned as the rest of the posters here about all these great things which always seems to be on the horizon. I can't wait to read about a completed cable to some far off shore, a reduction in pricing happening today. I'm also blowing 1300 bucks on a shaped/throttled account, its such a waste. I don't want these great things to be in the future, i want it now.

 

[gregmcc]

This is good news - but I ain't going to get too excited yet. Look at the GTS thing we heard about a few years ago.

The day it goes live is when we can celebrate - hopefully were not all dead by then

 

[Glordit]

HEY! If its 65% less that meas it will cost about R195 for 384k w/ 1GB cap!
Jokes

Atleast make it 512+ with a reasonable cap 10GB? sounds about right!!