by The Editor
One day somebody will produce the definitive research document on the biggest successes and failures of the first years of democracy. Numbered among the biggest failures will be some of the effects of the stranglehold that Telkom has been allowed to exercise over this country's vital telecommunications services.
It all started out with the best of intentions - effectively to allow the organisation a continued monopoly over public telecommunications for five years on condition that it rolled out millions of telephones to rural and deprived areas.
This thinking underestimated the pace of technology change and the worldwide move to lower telecommunication costs. Another problem was the incentive given to Telkom executives to keep rolling out huge profit increases. All this was compounded by the difficulties involved in finally introducing a Telkom competitor in the form of a second fixed-line operator.
The results have been very serious in terms of South African competitiveness. While consumers in various foreign cities enjoy free local fixed-line calls, South Africans have come to dread their monthly telephone accounts. So much so that an IFP parliamentarian recently went to a halloween party dressed in the most "scary" costume she could conceive - a Telkom account.
The problems have been keenly felt in terms of internet costs and accessibility. Despite the early attention it gave to the development potential of this modern marvel, the government has allowed Telkom to also keep a virtual stranglehold over potential competitors, to the detriment of users. This has impeded the local development of new products and services.
The prices now being levied by Telkom for slightly enhanced internet band-widths are out of step with international trends. As reported in The Mercury earlier this week, a Durban man has calculated that it is cheaper to fly to Hong Hong and back to download certain packages. It would take 13 minutes to download files there, compared with over a week in Durban.
The public should have a right to use the internet economically. Costly bottlenecks that are retarding economic activity must be removed.
