How well do Telkom take to being reprimanded.

[Myrrdin]

24th July 1999

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=ct19990724195251257N230814

Telkom has been fined a whopping R3,3-million by South Africa's telecommunications watchdog for failing to deliver on its customer service promises.

It is the first time a penalty of this kind has been imposed and it is being hailed as a rare victory for consumers.



I cant find any reference to this fine ever being paid.

 

[Myrrdin]

July 11 2002

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=qw102635874117B234

AT&T, a leading international telecommunications supplier, said on Wednesday that it would take legal action against Telkom for refusing to adhere to the landmark ruling against it by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).

The ruling, made on June 21, followed a section 100 complaint filed by Telkom against AT&T almost two years ago and a counter complaint lodged by AT&T on March 22 last year.




I had a special interest in this one as my company at the time were in negotiations with AT&T. Most notably from this article is the line

"Telkom corporate communications executive Temba Masilela said Telkom disputed the "correctness" of the ruling made by Icasa on June 21 regarding the provision of telecommunications facilities to AT&T Global Network Services."

 

[dominic]

"Consumers should be happy about Telkom's penalty. It proves we're doing our job and looking after their interests as best we can," said Esta Gouws, Satra's head of communications.

Telkom said the fine represented a mere 0,02 percent of its operating expenses and would have no major impact on running costs.

Telkom is guaranteed another run for its money in 2002 when its licence expires and Satra opens the market to at least two more landline operators.

Sue de Villiers, spokeswoman for Minister of Communications Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, said that Satra was set up specifically to regulate the industry and that "it has the prerogative to do as it chooses".

things have changed somewhat since 1999...or have they

more interesting to try and find out where the Competition Tribunal is with the VANS complaint and the R3billion+ fine for telkom recommended by the competition commission

 

[Myrrdin]

January 5, 2005

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20050105065612644C776480

Kelly Dube's landline was cut off when he couldn't pay the huge bills, forcing the Sowetan driving instructor to use an expensive cellphone instead. In Cape Town, executive Nasrin Consul came within a whisker of ditching her fixed line after getting a R25 000 bill that wasn't hers.

Rich or poor, black or white, most South Africans have an axe to grind with state-controlled fixed-line monopoly Telkom, slammed for allegedly ripping off customers, inflating business costs and hampering the roll-out of phone and Internet access.

More at the link...


I particularly liked

"South Africa is a complete desert of miserable stagnation - Telkom's monopoly constantly stifles any innovation," said chief executive Koos Bekker. "It is becoming a backwater as far as the Internet is concerned."

 

[stoke]

Thanks for the reminders Myrrdin - I sometimes forgets just how ugly and dangerous this monster is.

 

[Myrrdin]

Thanks to the guys who have already responded. I think the anti-competition ruling is still being appealed by Telkom. Dont know what the outcome of that one was.