Neotel exclusivity as Infraco takes shape

This is actually quite crap because it means there definitely won't be a third fixed line national operator for another four years. Government are basically making the Telkom mistake over again. We don't need two telco's, we need four or five.
 
Really, you think the market is big enough for 4 or 5? Sounds a bit optimistic
 
Exclusivity's always a bad idea, if only the govt would realise this.
 
Skip said:
This is actually quite crap because it means there definitely won't be a third fixed line national operator for another four years. Government are basically making the Telkom mistake over again. We don't need two telco's, we need four or five.
Click to expand...
Unbundle the local loop, retire ivy, and get a regulator like the UKs OFTEL and two is plenty.
 
Exclusivity - Yet another licence to screw the consumer for all he/she/it is worth
 
Who is "government's new broadband supplier"?

Me is missing something here ...

Spose they mean Infraco.

The DPE has still not scheduled a full briefing to Parliament on Infraco, even though it had promised the new broadband supplier would be operational by March.
Click to expand...
Surprize!

Aaaah .. so Infraco must lay the new cable. LAWL. It's definately a new telkom. I wonder what they'll sell Infraco for in a couple of years time once we've paid to make it profitable?

So .. Neotel market Infraco and somehow this keeps TATA happy. I don't get it. I seriously don't. WTH?
 
JStrike said:
Really, you think the market is big enough for 4 or 5? Sounds a bit optimistic
Click to expand...

Wall Street alone has more local Cellphone operators than the entire South Africa. :p

But then again there are a lot of people crammed into that small space :)
 
Cant beleive they would do that!! Theyre basically giving exclusivity to a company who has said it wont compete with telkom on price, AND at the same time protecting it from competition because no one else can use the infrastructure!!! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

What happend to Infraco being a new open-access carrier with regulated prices that anyone could use?! :sick: Suppose someone just had a whod of cash stuffed in their back pocket...
 
JStrike said:
Really, you think the market is big enough for 4 or 5? Sounds a bit optimistic
Click to expand...

There are 20 million cellphone users in SA. They used to think the market would handle 500 000. If the telco market is opened up completely so that it's cheap enough for half of those (10 million) to switch to fixed line service I think it could handle at least 4 telcos. They might not all be national but there could be a mix of regional and national carriers.
 
Jonny Two Shoes said:
Wall Street alone has more local Cellphone operators than the entire South Africa. :p

But then again there are a lot of people crammed into that small space :)
Click to expand...
That doesnt make any sense - Wall Street is just a street in NY city. ;)
 
bwana said:
That doesnt make any sense - Wall Street is just a street in NY city. ;)
Click to expand...

Im serious :) some Marketing guy told me that a while ago. That because of the high call volumes on the famous Wall Street Stock Exchange they require more Cellphone operators! :)
 
biltonguy said:
Cant beleive they would do that!! Theyre basically giving exclusivity to a company who has said it wont compete with telkom on price, AND at the same time protecting it from competition because no one else can use the infrastructure!!! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

What happend to Infraco being a new open-access carrier with regulated prices that anyone could use?! :sick: Suppose someone just had a whod of cash stuffed in their back pocket...
Click to expand...

Because Neotel were originally going to buy the infrastructure, and were licenced on those terms I think, but then government decided to hold on to the infrastructure. This has always been the plan, it's not like someone just suddenly said "oh, we're only selling to Neotel for the next n years".

I think InfraCo is a Good Thing. Communications, like water, electricity, roads, etc are absolutely essential in any country, and thus should be maintained by a government, not by the private sector. At the very least this allows us to avoid duplication of infrastructure.

(I realise government doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to building and maintaining infrastructure, but I remain optimistic that they will get better at some point)

Edit: 4 years is indeed a long time though.
 
Last edited:
As long as international connectivity is not exclusive .. don;t think this will make that big a difference...

GVT will probably make a mess of Infraco anyway..
 
eremos said:
I think InfraCo is a Good Thing. Communications, like water, electricity, roads, etc are absolutely essential in any country, and thus should be maintained by a government, not by the private sector. At the very least this allows us to avoid duplication of infrastructure.
Click to expand...
this brings to mind the enron affair. in california enron the emergency electricity supplier used to cause deliberate power failures or shutdowns of power plants to raise the price of their emergency backup power thus increasing their revenue. sounds like something telscum might do or is doing! :o
 
Wake up Gov!

1.) Cheap access to submarine cable/s.
2.) Local loop unbundling.
3.) Competent regulator.
4.) Eventually sell all shares in telecoms.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X