Mismanaged liberalisation - great quote

[dominic]

from an article in iWeek (14/9/2006) which nicely sums up the DoC's achievements:

"Government is following a strategy of "managed liberalisation" in the telecommunications sector; however this policy has delivered neither universal service nor universal access. Instead, it has provided greater access to a lottery point of sale than to a public telephone."

Dr Paul Cole

 

[Debbie]

How strange, I came across this yesterday online.

dominic you've read that incredibly damning usa report Cole worked on?

 

[Skeptik]

Here's the link:
http://www.iweek.co.za/ViewStory.asp?StoryID=166297

What's more, the report reveals that basic access as internationally accepted is 440 times too expensive and that 44% of local households are unable to afford a basic telephone.

As for the target set by the Minister of Communications in 2003 for the agency to increase household density from 10% to 20% by 2006, Cole says that given the organisation's budget, it will take approximately 1 500 years to achieve this goal.