Local Loop Unbundling: Please give your feedback

[MickeyD]

Except I wouldn't call it Telkom OpenReach. It should be FULLY independent. Think Baby Bells: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Bell_Operating_Company
Juice

That's a different concept, though.

 

[Maciej]

Telkom's monopoly of telecommunications has done great harm to economic growth and education in South Africa. It is time that the monopoly is completely and finally ended. Let competition prevail in a win-win situation for suppliers and consumers alike.

 

[saliehendricks]

I voted for all 4.

We need bit stream access so that we the consumer can see immediate movement on this task. We have been waiting far too long.

Full local loop unbundling must be the end goal. We need to ensure that if big players out there want to invest in new tech (FTTH) then they can do so without Telkom sinfluence.

The other 2 i voted for because they seem like practical small improvements that can be made at a shorter time period. We want to see consistent improvement. Not embarking on full un-bundling which results in 4 years of more faffing about and then 2 weeks of excuses in the form of documents (that Telkom could bother to ****ing read nevermind comment)

 

[ebudae]

I feel that full unbundling or sub-loop unbundling would be the only two preferable options. Other options leave Telkom in too much control and won't have much effect on lowering the barrier to entry for lower income consumers who can't afford Telkom's cheapest offerings at present. Telkom does not have a very good history of demonstrating an interest in supplying consumers with value for money, and has shown monopolistic tendencies time and time again.

If any competitor is to spring up in the ADSL space they need as much room to maneuver, in terms of cost, as possible. Therefore the best bet is either full unbundling or sub-loop unbundling.

 

[Cadavre777]

Voted for "Full Local Loop Unbundeling" as its required for Service Providers to do the following:

- provide full technical support (on-site and off-site)
- provide services not seen before in South Africa
- provision for and tender to gated communities and complexes and possibly entire suburbs'
- offer more cost effective custom solutions to clients
- rapidly build their networks without the time consuming local loop roll-out
- still enable smaller service providers to share access should they not wish or be within their means to build networks of their own
- enable better competition between service providers

 

[inferno]

Everything paid for by tax payers in the past before telkom went private should be unbundled. The copper that Telkom laid after going private should remain Telkoms. That, to me, seems fair.

 

[Zanadu]

Must be Full Local Loop Unbundling - possibly other options could be implemented first.

 

[afrodeity]

This is completely ridiculous. What we need are operators with the right to provide FIBRE TO THE DOOR. Unbundling the COPPER Local Loop is like announcing that Steam Powered Vehicles will no longer need a pedestrian to walk in front of the vehicle with a warning sign. Come on guys, we have had internal combustion engine for years and even this motor is now redundant. We living in the 21st Century not the 19th Century as TELKOM would like us to believe, SO NOT THANK YOU.

ZA-FREE

 

[foxyfox]

THANK YOU!

Part of the conundrum is that Telkom would lose what little motivation they still have, to upgrade and maintain existing infrastructure. If left to SPs, that's fine for areas with higher client-density, but anyone living in a sparsely populated area is screwed, in effect, as nobody would worry about him. Some accompanying regulation with regards to acceptable service levels, would need to be discussed as well.

Yip, Live in rural area and we struggle for months without lines due to copper theft (Just as one section is fixed, another is stolen). Trees and weather also affect lines - what company in it's right mind will want to take that on? I've had to set up my own wireless network just to get access to ADSL 30km away.

 

[TelkomUseless]

Full Unbundling. We can get rid of telephone line cost too. Just a waste of money.

 

[sunsoffun]

Full unbundling. No more Telkom monopoly.

 

[Keithk]

LLU

We need FULL unbundeling and nothing less.
Darn this Telkom monopoly

 

[v3gout]

I vote for any and all four options, if they will make it possible to get a naked ADSL service. But - with the understanding that Telkom still *owns* the local loop, maintains it, and charges for access to it. Telkom should be bound by SLAs to whoever hires access to the local loop. Remeber - the local loop is not public property - Telkom shareholders bought it from the government; and cannot simply be forced to open it to all and sundry without compensation.

 

[Juice]

I vote for any and all four options, if they will make it possible to get a naked ADSL service. But - with the understanding that Telkom still *owns* the local loop, maintains it, and charges for access to it. Telkom should be bound by SLAs to whoever hires access to the local loop. Remeber - the local loop is not public property - Telkom shareholders bought it from the government; and cannot simply be forced to open it to all and sundry without compensation.

Just don't expect full disclosure on operating costs and margins from Telkom when it comes to offering services to its competitors... We've seen Telkom cross-subsidise before to freeze out competition and they are not to be trusted. No, they must sell off the local loop division and it must be run as a separate independent company.

EDIT: Actually, having thought about it some more, selling off the division is not the only requirement. The goal here has to be competition and not just turning the provider of local loop services into just another, albeit smaller, monopoly. You would also have to allow anyone who wants to and can afford to the opportunity to set up their own company to provide local loop services, whether it is on a suburb, city, provincial or national scale.

Juice

 

[Browser]

Full local loop unbundling

Who knows one day we may even have companies competing to provide last mile access / infrastructure.

 

[TrueSeeker]

I would be fine with Telkom owning and maintaining the copper network and reselling access to it if:
- Other companies are allowed to put down their own lines of any type be it copper, fibre, whatever.
- Internet is separated from telephony completely.
- They don't charge ridiculous prices
- Performance is not impacted


In my mind Telkom should be split in two: Telephony and Network provision (Telkom and Netcom maybe)
The Telephony business can do 8ta and fixed line telephony services
The Networks business can provide networks for 8ta and fixed line telephony. Also resell fixed line as well as cellular network access to other companies at a fair price. Also expand into a continent spanning network provision company and possibly create an environment in Africa where telecoms entrepeneurs can flourish.

In my mind this would nicely partition everything. Everything in it's niche.

There you go.. SA telecoms fixed! tyvm

 

[SanitySA]

All four options. This will allow for greater variety of choice, better services, more competition & competitive pricing. This should most likely also push the need to regularly introduce newer tech & upgrades. A prime example of this is the cell phone providers. Look at how they are constantly introducing new tech to their networks, plus some of the very competitive packages that have recently become available.

Regarding some folks' concerns with maintenance & future upgrades, ICASA will simply have to do it's job & ensure Telkom follows through on such matters. Otherwise the local loop needs to be placed in the care of a "third" party who's soul responsibility is to maintain & upgrade.

 

[VioAdmin]

Full unbundling. No more Telkom monopoly.

+1.

Telkom needs to be destroyed at all costs. This company has literally destroyed our economy. Can imagine, just IMAGINE, if Internet was priced correctly?

Do you know how many kids would self-educate themselves? Learn to make web sites, make some income, educate themselves on great world leaders like Thomas Sankara...Communicate with the outside world.

And of course the entertainment value of it all, they will be able to download their porn(instead of going to the bar getting drunk and picking up aids from the local whore). Play games, watch their shows...

I mean really, if Telkom was put in it's place, the benefits of Full unbundling would be the best thing to happen to this continent in decades.

 

[The Mechanic]

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. The bottom line is that the local loop that everyone is fighting so hard to get control of still needs to be maintained. This is currently being done by Telkom. When the local loop is unbundled, who, pray tell, will be responsible for the maintenance ? Also, working at Telkom and dealing with the Network issues first hand, I can report that Telkom currently experiences about 700 incidents of cable theft, tampering, vandalism, etc PER DAY and budgets 3 BILLION rand a year replacing stolen and vandalised cable. Who will be paying for this after local loop unbundling. The ISP's ? Neotel ? Mweb ? I don't think they will be willing to fork out so much money ? Get real guys! This is South Africa. The people don't allow the network to stay in the ground for too long before stealing it!!!

 

[MickeyD]

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. The bottom line is that the local loop that everyone is fighting so hard to get control of still needs to be maintained. This is currently being done by Telkom. When the local loop is unbundled, who, pray tell, will be responsible for the maintenance ? Also, working at Telkom and dealing with the Network issues first hand, I can report that Telkom currently experiences about 700 incidents of cable theft, tampering, vandalism, etc PER DAY and budgets 3 BILLION rand a year replacing stolen and vandalised cable. Who will be paying for this after local loop unbundling. The ISP's ? Neotel ? Mweb ? I don't think they will be willing to fork out so much money ? Get real guys! This is South Africa. The people don't allow the network to stay in the ground for too long before stealing it!!!

R3bn !!!

You sure?