I doubt very much that NeoTel will bring anything to the consumer that will be mind blowing. They will stick to the president created by Telkom, and blessed by our beloved Gov, cap and shape users silly, make sure they pay through their teeth.
I am also sick and tired of hearing about "this is a good step", "this is good for competition" nonsense. Face facts, we are still being taken for a ride inspite of all the hype, spin and propoganda thrown at us on a daily basis. Dropping prices with one or two rand is not my idea of being competitive. I mean yippee bloody do, Telkom now gives 2 gig extra with their extremely over priced package and we suppose to be happy?
It is all just smoke and daggers to keep us just so, that we don't get too upset. Keep the population needy, and they'll stay loyal.
I use / need the fastest ADSL (not wireless) I can get with a high upload speed and at least a 100 gig capacity during a month, for a little server I run. How does NeoTel punting the advantages of SEACOM help me with this? How does SEACOM help me give a better service to my clients at a price that both I and my clients can afford? How has any of the drivel that has been spewed out over the past few months about NeoTel and SEACOM actually help me? How will it help me tomorrow, or the day after, or the month after, or even the year after? How does it help anyone else for that matter? The odd ISP undercutting another by a couple of rands is not competition. This is not helping SA establish itself in the fast developing world that is e-commerce. It is not enabling the SA businessman to reasonably easily startup any form of online service / facility / server.
We have had all kinds of people teeling us directly and indirectly that we are being taken for a ride, but still there are so many people who prefer to punt a 2 rand drop in price as a major breakthrough, worthy of a news article.
I personaly think we are selling out our beliefs slowly but surely, and the corporate money grabbing giants are winning the war once again.