Lower telecoms prices…..when?

Finally an article that takes the pessimists view ......

“Seacom might have an impact…but Telkom will still play a part as it controls delivery across the country. Other major operators like MTN, Neotel and Vodacom might be busy laying cable with Dark Fibre Africa, but that takes years and is expensive,” he says.
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Can anyone say that that doesn't just hit the nail on the head :(
 
I liked this article, just a bit weird that the author of it, Eugene van der Merwe, writes and quotes himself in the 3rd person :confused:

Why not just have it as a blog then?

@M_H based on the extract you've taken there, I believe that MTN, VC and Telscum have the most to benefit out of Seacom at the moment.
All they need to do is hook that baby up to their current infrastructure and they'll start generating savings.
Granted that MTN and VC's current infrastrucuture is still heavily dependent on terminating across Telscums's backhaul, etc.
But the reduction in the cost of data simply will make a difference on the bottom line.

EDIT:
Disclaimer - this is only my view on it and not to be taken into account that I have any concrete evidence to back it up. Just the way I see it ;)
 
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They may start generating savings but the question is will they be passed on to us consumers, and if so, how soon. It's no use they generate massive savings for themselves and decide to trickle down the benefits to us over the next ten years or whatever. I'll stick with my previous statement that I'll stay pessimistic about it and be surprised rather than get my hopes up and they get dashed.
 
Mephisto_Helix said:
They may start generating savings but the question is will they be passed on to us consumers, and if so, how soon. It's no use they generate massive savings for themselves and decide to trickle down the benefits to us over the next ten years or whatever. I'll stick with my previous statement that I'll stay pessimistic about it and be surprised rather than get my hopes up and they get dashed.
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Well I'm not being optimistic about any savings that the cell operators are going to have. I'm still in conspiracy theory mode about that.
They could either:

1. Go on with the way they are doing things now and not pass on any savings.
2. Pass on savings by means of extending caps for the same price.
3. Blow Neotel out of the water, with more agressive pricing. Because they have the coverage which Neotel still seeks to aquire.

Whichever option (I hope there are more) they go with, I'd be most interested to see if they will compete with each other.
Will VC and MTN actually manage to take each other head on?
Or will they continue with their amazingly identical pricing structure on data? :rolleyes:
 
Its happened before where things were happening, and expectations were high, and when it came down to the crunch nothing happened. Sure, I have uncapped at pathetic speed... uncapped none the less under R500... but its nowhere near what overseas are getting! Yea sure, I'm eager to see what will come of the whole Seacom cable thing. If prices drop and packages may improve... but until then, I'll try my damnest to keep my excitement in check - Disappointment is a 3itch!
 
therefore wants to charge just as much as the market will bear, and no more
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This for me is the crux of the matter. We, South Africans, allow them to do this to us. We give them the basis level of what they would charge us by doing nothing and just except things as they are. Yeah, we have/had no choice with TELKOM, all other players as well as the ANC in cahoots with each other. We biatch and complain and then get used to and accept it and move on to the next new basis level again. Corporate bussiness in South Africa knows it and thus exploits that to their max profiteering benefit.
 
I am Penguin said:
This for me is the crux of the matter. We, South Africans, allow them to do this to us. We give them the basis level of what they would charge us by doing nothing and just except things as they are. Yeah, we have/had no choice with TELKOM, all other players as well as the ANC in cahoots with each other. We biatch and complain and then get used to and accept it and move on to the next new basis level again. Corporate bussiness in South Africa knows it and thus exploits that to their max profiteering benefit.
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Thing is that we have a very limited scope to choose from when it comes to these coporate buggers.
Goverment, the DOC and Ivy are to blame for this and the ANC at large.
Even with the supposed deregulation, our options are limited with whom we can spend our money with.
All we can do sit around and move our money to save R100 p/month, if that.

With comments from goverment saying that they do not want the "Imperialists from England" to buy out VC, it doesn't really welcome foreign investment into the country.

So we're stifled with what we have.
We have Seacom coming along, with the hopes of changing the landscape and a SNO that's hampered by itself really, at the moment.
 
Well then all of us "Imperialists" should leave this country and let the ANC run it into the ground. Oh wait... It's already happening. The ANC have done nothing but **** this country up and what amuses me is that they are so stupid to realize this. Sorry for going off topic, but Telecoms is just one example of how the ANC is running SA into the ground.

/end rant
 
if past experiences is anything to go by i would seacomm isn't going to change "broadband" much is this country. yay another R20 off something....
 
Tns said:
if past experiences is anything to go by i would seacomm isn't going to change "broadband" much is this country. yay another R20 off something....
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Unfortunately, this is also what I am thinking..... :mad:

B
 
Tns said:
if past experiences is anything to go by i would seacomm isn't going to change "broadband" much is this country. yay another R20 off something....
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I'm thinking the same...

Instead of R40 pm for broadband, they will release a new R30pm for broadband and 100Meg cap..
 
I still believe the reason the telecoms prices in SA are so high is because the government is trying to prevent people educating themselves over the internet. This way they will be able to avoid all the government propaganda and come to realize how badly the government is lying to them.

Keeping the masses uneducated ensures that they can keep spinning their stories and rake in a massive number of voters.
 
I gave up the idea of cheaper telecoms back in 2005 and yup nothing has changed since then. I got tired of all the 'this is the year that its going to happen' junk.
 
Wyzak said:
I still believe the reason the telecoms prices in SA are so high is because the government is trying to prevent people educating themselves over the internet. This way they will be able to avoid all the government propaganda and come to realize how badly the government is lying to them.

Keeping the masses uneducated ensures that they can keep spinning their stories and rake in a massive number of voters.
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As "conspiracy theorist" as this is, it has many precedents in history and I tend to agree with you.
 
Contradicting message to latest news insert - "Broadening the band"
'In 2002 a standard broadband package would have cost the consumer more than R900 a month; now a similar package costs in the region of R200.'

Referring to telephone and cellular call rates - yes, but Internet access has become cheaper.
 
SAI said:
Contradicting message to latest news insert - "Broadening the band"
'In 2002 a standard broadband package would have cost the consumer more than R900 a month; now a similar package costs in the region of R200.'

Referring to telephone and cellular call rates - yes, but Internet access has become cheaper.
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Yes it has, but not from R900 to R200. What broadband package was available in 2002 that is now R200? In 2002 we still had uncapped local...
 
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