ICASA ADSL Hearing Feedback

rpm

rpm

Admin
Staff member
Joined
Jul 22, 2003
Messages
66,805
Reaction score
5,057
Location
Johannesburg
Hi folks

I have just spoken to Dianne from ICASA. The reason for the delay in the public hearing was due to the massive amount of feedback from the government gazette. Thanks a bunch to all of you that have replied! The ICASA Council is now well aware that this is a pressing issue which is great news!

She also wants me to inform you that the hearings will be a public meeting where everybody is welcome to attend. It will be great to have as many of you there as possible. I will post any additional information here as soon as I receive it.

Regards,

RPM
 
Sorry - Film.

I am sorry, but as much as I wish to attend, I am in Cape Town and the hearing is in Gauteng. But I will be holding my fingers crossed for the rest of you guys that will be attending.

I was wondering if the event can be filmed and perhaps added as a download on MyADSL.
 
Hi BTTB

Dianne did mention that many people wanted hearings in CT and Durban, but that is not possible. She did however say that they are looking at possible ways to meet these guys ‘half way’, but no details about this yet. Maybe they can somehow involve the lucky folks from the coast :D I will post any developments here!

Regards,

RPM
 
Can someone please at least record audio from the event? Surely lots of you going have cellphones with audio recording capability, if not dedicated audio recorders? You could post mp3 snippets of relevant speeches for us Coasties to listen to...
 
Hi Gaz

I will try to record the prominent speeches, but it depends on my work related commitments during that period. I will have to attend the Telkom speech, and will also try to record the IS and other relevant player’s replies…

Regards,

RPM
 
Hi Tibby.Dude

I hope they consider video conferencing, but I have noticed that most people seem to be ‘scared’ to use this technology. On many occasions I had to fly to JHB for business, but when I mention video conferencing the other party simply indicates that they do not find it suitable. They would rather cover the cost for the flights & accommodation than try out video conferring. Sad really…

Regards,

RPM
 
rpm said:
I hope they consider video conferencing, but I have noticed that most people seem to be ‘scared’ to use this technology.
Click to expand...

We had this facility via ISDN ... it reminded me a lot of "bullet time" in The Matrix :).

It would really be sad if only GP folks can be invited and be present at such an important meeting.
 
I was thinking of going. But I still so (*&#(*$&) MAD about the changes they made to the Diginet (Martis) SLAs that i am scared i will HiJack the hearing, in true SA style :-)
 
Hi,

sorry for the stupid Q but where is this going to take place, i know when but i havent read where exactly
 
rpm said:
Hi BTTB

Dianne did mention that many people wanted hearings in CT and Durban, but that is not possible. She did however say that they are looking at possible ways to meet these guys ‘half way’, but no details about this yet. Maybe they can somehow involve the lucky folks from the coast :D I will post any developments here!

Regards,

RPM
Click to expand...

hihi, I will invite her to my house...*gg*
 
Input my bit

I have been envited to give a presentation on day 4, which has been moved to day 3, same day as you RPM.

Is there a common angle you think everybody should be taking? I have read the Mweb and MTN proposals and realize they are driven by one goal... big market share.
Any feedback would be great.

BTW am flying up from KZN for the presentation on Friday.

Regards
Lochness


rpm said:
Hi folks

I have just spoken to Dianne from ICASA. The reason for the delay in the public hearing was due to the massive amount of feedback from the government gazette. Thanks a bunch to all of you that have replied! The ICASA Council is now well aware that this is a pressing issue which is great news!

She also wants me to inform you that the hearings will be a public meeting where everybody is welcome to attend. It will be great to have as many of you there as possible. I will post any additional information here as soon as I receive it.

Regards,

RPM
Click to expand...
 
Feedback from readers to me as in whether there should be a common approach and does anybody have anything to say about the other proposals?
 
I think it is extremely important that your presentations have synergy. Perhaps email drafts to each other and modify your speeches through correspondence? The power of debating comes from convincing repetition of certain key points. If everyone presents different angles then the audience get's lost in the complexity. The basic idea is that DSL costs too much for too little. The second point to note is that you get nowhere by just complaining. Offering effective solutions or proposals to solve problems is the way to get stubborn opponents to take notice. So i suggest forming a set of recommendations for DSL that you can present to Telkom.

We could ask for:

(1) A 'slow' broadband offering for under R300 a month that most users will buy. This achieves economies of scale and their light bandwidth usage will subsidise heavy users.
(2) A 'medium' broadband offering for between R300 and R500 a month for more serious users. A reasonable cap of 10Gig with a 64k throttle thereafter to enable gaming/browsing.
(3) A 'fast' unlimited broadband offering for between R500 and R1000 a month for heavy users. Uncapped.

This is very rough but perhaps we could get a more specific set of "reasonable" suggestions from other forum members. I say "reasonable" because this is Telkom we are dealing with and compromise is a must. Let's do their market research for them since they are completely incompetent.

As a final example to Them, you could say:

R300 a month from 1 million people = R300 million
R850 a month from 50 000 people = R42.5 million

ie: a cheaper service is bought by more people making you more money.

You can quote Ster Kinekor/Nu Metro price reductions as an example. ie: halve the ticket price and more than double your attendance.
 
Last edited:
With the hearing date fast approaching i want to wish all those who will speak at the hearing the very best of luck. I think this hearing will be a real turning point in the struggle for affordable communication in South Africa.
 
Line rental abolishment should be mentioned...no need for redundant fees i.e: R87


Gaz{M} said:
I think it is extremely important that your presentations have synergy. Perhaps email drafts to each other and modify your speeches through correspondence? The power of debating comes from convincing repetition of certain key points. If everyone presents different angles then the audience get's lost in the complexity. The basic idea is that DSL costs too much for too little. The second point to note is that you get nowhere by just complaining. Offering effective solutions or proposals to solve problems is the way to get stubborn opponents to take notice. So i suggest forming a set of recommendations for DSL that you can present to Telkom.

We could ask for:

(1) A 'slow' broadband offering for under R300 a month that most users will buy. This achieves economies of scale and their light bandwidth usage will subsidise heavy users.
(2) A 'medium' broadband offering for between R300 and R500 a month for more serious users. A reasonable cap of 10Gig with a 64k throttle thereafter to enable gaming/browsing.
(3) A 'fast' unlimited broadband offering for between R500 and R1000 a month for heavy users. Uncapped.

This is very rough but perhaps we could get a more specific set of "reasonable" suggestions from other forum members. I say "reasonable" because this is Telkom we are dealing with and compromise is a must. Let's do their market research for them since they are completely incompetent.

As a final example to Them, you could say:

R300 a month from 1 million people = R300 million
R850 a month from 50 000 people = R42.5 million

ie: a cheaper service is bought by more people making you more money.

You can quote Ster Kinekor/Nu Metro price reductions as an example. ie: halve the ticket price and more than double your attendance.
Click to expand...
 
Cost components of ADSL line rental

I would like to see the various cost components that make up Telkom's ADSL line rental to be investigated further (ie not the ISP part). There has always been a suspicion that they use high line rentals to cross-subsidise their ISP offering.

From my novice point of view there are the following cost components:

1. Installation costs of the copper line
2. Maintenance costs of the copper line
3. Capex costs incl cost of capital to procure and install the DSLAM ports
4. Maintenance costs to maintain the DSLAM infrastructure
5. ATM backbone capex costs incl cost of capital related to the ADSL proportionate use of it.
6. Maintenance costs related to the ATM backbone proportionate to the ADSL usage of it.
7. BRAS capex costs incl cost of capital
8. BRAS maintenance costs

I think if one gets rough representative costs (industry benchmarks) of each of these cost components allocated down to an individual line and DSLAM port, then it would be easier to take Telkom on for their ridiculously high priced line ADSL line rentals. The cost of equipment in USD terms should be more or less the same here than anywhere else. The labour component could be less productive or efficient but this should be offset by lower labour costs compared to most first world countries.
 
mystic said:
I would like to see the various cost components that make up Telkom's ADSL line rental to be investigated further (ie not the ISP part). There has always been a suspicion that they use high line rentals to cross-subsidise their ISP offering.
Click to expand...

Telkom will fight not to reveal this.

If they do, they will be the laughing stock of the international telecoms community.

The questions are very valid - everybody would love Telkom to tell the world in public that they are ineffiecient.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X