M-Web raises telcos concerns

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BTTB

BTTB

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http://www.finance24.com/Finance/Companies/0,,1518-24_1649961,00.html

M-Web raises telcos concerns
20/01/2005 16:24 - (SA)

Shoks Mzolo
Johannesburg - SA's leading internet service provider (ISP) M-Web on Thursday told the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) that sections of the Telecommunications Act that were not in line with the Ministerial Determinations should be repealed.

M-Web's regulatory director Richard Heath said the ISP was of the view that what Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri said last September spelled the way to a liberalised environment provided for in the Act.

As such this requires Icasa to convert the Ministerial Determinations into entitlement for value added network service (VANS) providers.

M-Web argued that applying the Act's clauses that needed to be repealed - post February 1 - nullified the Ministerial Determinations.

Other information and communications technology (ICT) players - such as Telkom - are opposed to self-provisioning for VANS and instead insisted that in terms of the Act, VANS are not permitted to carry voice.

Matsepe-Casaburri said in her policy announcement, VANS may carry any protocol, a point Telkom described as "unfortunate" and a deviation by the minister.

The group is of the view that the reference to "any protocol" is superfluous.

M-Web also expressed concern at the fact that monopolies, such as Telkom with its undersea cable monopoly, can hamper fair competition by charging high fees.
Telkom bought into this cable, while it was still a Public Owned Company, paying no taxes. IMO, this cable should be declared The Property of the people of South Africa. BTTB's opinion.

Wholesale rates

The lack of market forces to determine fair pricing would lead to a scenario whereby such monopolies hold the whole industry to a ransom.

To deal with this, M-Web wants Icasa to adopt some mechanisms that would enable it to intervene in case a pricing dispute arose among ICT providers.

If no such mechanisms exist, monopolies can refuse to charge wholesale rates to their peers or even deviate from the agreed pricing as they please, which would in the long run affect the country's economy.

M-Web provides a wide range of exclusive content, differentiated tools and services, best-of-breed technology guarantee and internationally sourced research and development to benefit its more than 332 000 dial-up subscribers and 14 000 broadband subscribers.

Among others, it offers products and services for businesses to integrate their ICT infrastructure and business processes with the internet.

M-Web is Naspers' wholly-owned subsidiary while Telkom is 38%-held by the government.

Icasa is working around the clock towards a fully functional framework for the telecommunications sector ahead of February 1.

Edited by Mahap Msiza

It is defintely more apparent that their is more and more pressure on Telkom for it to get off it's high horse. About time we heard more from MWeb. BTTB.
 
Agreed, its about time ISPs start voicing concerns & opinions.

MWEB might not be my favorite company but my hats off to them for making a stand.
 
"The group is of the view that the reference to "any protocol" is superfluous."

To my mind, any group that thinks the Internet should only carry selected protocols are themselves superfluous. Surely they don't think that ICASA are ignorant enough to accept that argument. If they are we are doomed. The rest of the world will pull the plug on the South African Internet Community. Even China is more liberal than that.

Cheers
Chris
 
I agree!

It is simply insane for the protection of ancient technology purely because there is vested interest. Telkom wants to prevent anybody from providing voice over IP services over the Internet because it can hurt its landline telephone business. The simple answer from the minister should be “I bloody well hope it hurts you!”.

Here we have a new superior technology which puts the power of communication in the hands of the people (where it belongs) and some people want to stop it. Crazy! Putting any brakes on the advantages the Internet can bring to us as a developing country would top the stupid scenario where ISCOR was handed to overseas owners because of misunderstandings on the part of our government. Come on madam minister! Keep the hope alive!

Cheers
Ant
 
My hats off to Mweb for taking a legally productive route. I might not like it's overly expensive service that adds very little value(and don't work most of the time), but this is a case where technically minded individuals, like the ones on this board, bring together the legal and economic aspects and produce a perfectly productive argument that will add to the case against Telkom as more and more companies and individuals delve into these legal cases as a means of finding supportive material.
 
Another aspect is that Mweb is the biggest consumer ISP in South Africa, especially now after eating Tiscali, so they can argue that they represent their subscribers.
 
I've been with Mweb for a couple of years now and I personally must say that even if they are a bit more expensive that your average ISP I have never had any problems with them at all. My first ever ISP wast Pipex dial, then Icon, then Global, then iAfrica and now both my ADSL accounts are with Mweb. From Mweb's side I have had no downtime on any of my accounts what so ever, any loss in connectivity has been caused only by Telkom and their absolute lack of any customer support and client care what so ever.

I complement Mweb on the route they are taking in this regard, at least someone is starting to get the ball rolling. Its time that all telecommunication related companies start putting their foot down and tell Telkom to shove their service where it belongs. It may not be this year, or even next, but eventualyl something is going to crack and that can only be for the good of this country.
 
The whole crux of the matter rests with Governments 39% share in Telkom.

I feel that if that share wasn't there or wasn't as much, de-regulation would've happened a lot faster and ICASA would've come down a lot more heavily on Telkom.

The fact that our Government makes profit from Telkom is one of the key factors inhibiting change in our monopolistic telecommunications situation.
 
bb_matt said:
The whole crux of the matter rests with Governments 39% share in Telkom.

I feel that if that share wasn't there or wasn't as much, de-regulation would've happened a lot faster and ICASA would've come down a lot more heavily on Telkom.

The fact that our Government makes profit from Telkom is one of the key factors inhibiting change in our monopolistic telecommunications situation.
Click to expand...

I must agree, however another two angles to look at it from.
If the government cared about internet connectivity for the people of SA, they could have demanded long ago a new business model as the largest shareholder in Telkom's boardroom.
They, as the countries Government are supposed to be representing the interests of the people of SA. Not lining their pockets.
On the other hand if they were out of the picture, we probably wouldn't have all this bureaucratic delays so inherent from the Old Post Office days.

But the government speaks for itself.
Look at the 2 million Telkom Customers that were cut off and they did not say or do anything about it. Look at the 30 000 people that were retrenched from within Telkom. The list goes on to poor, outdated legislation and a Telecommunication Market that falls behind the rest of the world everyday.
The only people who are benefiting are the shareholders in Telkom and we know who they are. Enough said.
 
"this cable should be declared The Property of the people of South Africa".
WOW - zigzaktlee what I said.
Hats off - no - clothes off to MWeb (...puts clothes back on looking embarrased...).
I also like the way that they say that :- if you're going to still allow the monopoly to dictate, then give us a forum to solve disputes with. Nicely put.
 
Lining their pockets = living off the money which people have to part with to make use of a service which is a human right and which has no right to be governed by any government or company.

They are more interested in self-enrichment than enriching the lives of the poorer people in SA which is ludicrous. Most cannot afford a phone let alone internet - because of them lining their pockets at everyone's expense except theirs.

I don't have a Telkom phone line or ADSL cos im not gonna bloody well pay for someone's bond.
 
Correct me if I am wrong, but with M-Web being so big are they now going to negotiate with Telkom on their own or are they still going to rely on the ISPA to do this for them?
 
Liansky said:
I appreciate your input, but the question was directed at BTTB. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Er - this is a forum, not a 1to1 zone. PM BTTB if you don't want others input.

What the hell else can "lining your pockets" mean anyway ? - it's not exactly a vague statement with hundreds of potential possibilities !
 
Liansky, what's your problem? :confused:

You make snide little comments in the forum that people don't really understand.
I see you agree with criticizing the government.
If you do not support the government than me thinks you are not really a indigenous person or is it that you feel discriminated against because you were not part of the struggle?

Also, if you are a African, then how can you afford broadband? What do you do for a living? An BEE/AA individual perhaps?

Please enlighten us.

PS. I don't mean to offend you, but my financial situation is crappy, so I would appreciate it that you in future don't make it sound that you're worse off than me because of past injustices. :mad:
 
The reason i need clarification is that this is the last thing i would expect from BTTB. The rest of you don't hold any surprises, but as for BTTB....
 
Actually, i'm a 23 year old coloured. My mother only explained apartheid to me when Mandela was released. I'm a student who's currently looking for a job, so if anybody need their floors swept, i'm available. As for Broadband.. um, no, i have dail up, but i do live pretty comfortably as a result of my mothers hard work throughout the years. In fact, in my street, we have one of the biggest, and dare i say, nicest house on the block. Quite possibly, we share the same financial situation.
 
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