Devils advocate

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hvdmerwe

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Please bear with me and note that I hate paying to much for my comms:

<flame suit>

Having said that, why are everyone focusing their energy on Telkom? They are a business making as MUCH profit they can from people who are "willing" and able to pay for a service that they provide? Yes yes they ask to much, anyone can see that from the moon with one eye, but hey thats capitalism (blame capitalism).
Shouldn't everyone blame ICASA and Dept of Comms for not speeding up the second operator process?

</flame suit>

Just my 2c worth
 
Yes - but it is just that Telkom lie so much to us an refuse to provide a working product - they are abusing their monopoly and ripping off the SA public without any thought to it. They were given the monopoly to 'help' South Africa - at this rate they are going to loose alot of customers ....

We are focussing on ICASA and Doc - it is just that Telkom is another player who must be stopped ...
 
Ok, I here you, but what is Telkom doing illegally at this moment?
Do we have anti-competitive laws in this country (like in the US) and if so why arnt it enforced?
I'm just trying to figure out for my self if my anger towards Telkom is net misplaced - I hate paying to much for a service I know can cost less, but does this mean that Telkom is to blame?
 
hvdmerwe, Telkom does many things illegally. Holding them accountable is virtually impossible, as one needs (literally) MILLIONS to take them to court.

To give you a few examples of Telkom's illegal activities -

1) Their standard terms and conditions are unconstitutional. Do a search for this on MyADSL for more information. I currently have a complaint pending at ICASA about this.
2) Telkom is probably South Africa's biggest false advertiser. False advertising is illegal, and in the past the ASA has forced Telkom to pull a number of their adverts because of this.
3) Telkom have been illegally buying back their own shares to boost the shareprice. Again, do a search on MYADSL for more info. Also pay attention to a Noseweek article published late last year that explains much of this.
4) Telkom illegally refuse to provide their service in 'uneconomical areas'. I don't think this is illegal anymore, but up until 2002 it certainly was. I think it still is owing to the de facto monopoly environment.
5) Telkom have lied to the Securities and Exchanges Commission in Washington. More info on this can be gleaned by doing your own research - simply read their 2005 June SEC filing. More info I will not give for strategic reasosn.
6) I have in my possession blatant political threats made by Telkom to certain government agencies. No more detail will be given on this.
7) Telkom does not have a shareholders register by the looks of things. I personally have been to Telkom's Head Office to view this register, and was denied.

There are a host of things Telkom is doing illegally. Dig and yee shall find.
 
Telkom is doing what every other monoply will do making as much money as possible for their shareholders.
The DoC job is to stop them but they are 37% Telkom so they don't stop them
Who thinks about the country when his pockets are full of money.
Fighting with Telkom is barking on the wrong tree.
 
sorry to be stuburn about this, but

if its so obvious that they are breaking the law, why arnt activist groups taking them to court. And because its going to cost money is not an excuse, I'm sure large corporations in SA that is losing big money because of Telkom's monopoly will be willing to fund an exercise like this? or even take them to court themselves?
Or am I missing something?
 
hvdmerwe said:
sorry to be stuburn about this, but

if its so obvious that they are breaking the law, why arnt activist groups taking them to court. And because its going to cost money is not an excuse, I'm sure large corporations in SA that is losing big money because of Telkom's monopoly will be willing to fund an exercise like this? or even take them to court themselves?
Or am I missing something?
Click to expand...

You do ask good questions, but it does come down to a money issue.

It really is as simple as not having the money to take them to court. The financial might of Telkom, not to mention their political might, is something that is extremely difficult to challenge in the legal system.

The fact that it costs millions IS a reason. You are, of course, welcome to send me a few millions and I will gladly use it to challenge Telkom in court.

Why isn't business more involved? I think its due to the political dimensions of telecoms in SA. And the fact that a great number of people actually don't realise that their business pays unreasonable amounts for telecoms costs. But this is changing due to the efforts of MyADSL, Hellkom, and Antitrust.
 
The main problem is the department of communications that is throwing empty words and promises around like loose flying dung and at the end of the day nothing is done by them to improve the situation. Talking, talking, talking, and more talking.. It takes them literally years to come to a decission and to implement something. By the time they wake up South Africa will be stuck in the stone age and the rest of the world will pity South Africa like they do the rest of third world Africa. Oh, yeah, some of these third world countries are leaving South Africa in the dust regarding broadband if I understand it correctly.
 
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