Pro Telkom post on my guestbook

[antowan]

Okay, so somebody posted this on my private website yesterday:

As usual, more trash-talk from embittered souls with too much time on his hands. Lets look at the usual Telkom-bashing angles and see how they hold up:


1. Expensive - You complain about paying 10c/MB from Telkom yet have nothing to say about Vodacom's R2/MB which is both inferior and unreliable. Yes we would all like things to be cheaper, that's human nature but you get what you pay for. Next you'll be telling us Alienware PC's are rubbish because you can't afford one.


2. Expensive - part 2 - Hardware cost for 3G enabling device is far more expensive than for DSL router. Plus you can't share your connection either without some MORE expensive equipment. And did I already say it's unreliable?


3. Support - Ever tried getting support from Vodacom or MTN for data related problems? Bwahahahahahaha. Granted, Telkom aren't perfect here either but at least they know what an SMTP server is ...


4. 3GB cap, more rubbish information here - You can buy as much bandwidth as you like, you just pay for what you use. So what if you get 30GB in the UK. Move there then. Luckily Telkom limits your browsing time by offering low caps so you can do other things in your life like get a job and brush your teeth. Things you'll be grateful for when looking for employment overseas. Now if only someone would do something about the price of air tickets (hey great idea for a new website, oops there is one already).


5. Seriously, why do you need 30GB of bandwidth a month? Lemme guess, you have all the latest DivX movies, OS ISO's and games? Piracy, it's quite straightfoward. Of course you'll be the first one in the queue complaining when CD, DVD and game prices go up (maybe you'll start a new website www.ihatemusica.com)


In short, Telkom is your best bet like it or not so rather spend your time doing something constructive than bashing them constantly.

 

[antowan]

Well, the story is the same and it isn't the first time somebody came out flaming like this on my site, or others for that matter. All good as we all have a right to voice our opinion. The funny thing is that somebody would actually take time to write a defence for Telkom. It makes me wonder, WHY?

Anyway, to cut a long story short, this is my response:

1. Expensive - You complain about paying 10c/MB from Telkom yet have nothing to say about Vodacom's R2/MB which is both inferior and unreliable. Yes we would all like things to be cheaper, that's human nature but you get what you pay for. Next you'll be telling us Alienware PC's are rubbish because you can't afford one.

You can hardly consider it fair to compare fixed line offerings with mobile. The ballgame is different. However, when mobile brings out an offering like that of MTN recently where you can get 2GB bandwidth at R399 then you need to wonder what the heck is up with Telkom. Telkom cannot give you 2GB bandwidth cheaper because their line rental nulls and voids the effort.

2. Expensive - part 2 - Hardware cost for 3G enabling device is far more expensive than for DSL router. Plus you can't share your connection either without some MORE expensive equipment. And did I already say it's unreliable?

I use Vodacom when I am on the run and they are pretty reliable, but maybe it is just me. It is besides the point anyway because the nature of the product is such that reliability will be less than that of fixed line. The technical aspects of the mobile cards are such that they will be more expensive and unlike DSL most are rather new, thus R&D and the like still impacts heavily on the pricing.

3. Support - Ever tried getting support from Vodacom or MTN for data related problems? Bwahahahahahaha. Granted, Telkom aren't perfect here either but at least they know what an SMTP server is ...

Unfortunately I have to agree. But things are changing. I honestly have to say the mobile guys want to change. They get stuck in Telkom mode often, but things are moving. Telkom is stuck.

4. 3GB cap, more rubbish information here - You can buy as much bandwidth as you like, you just pay for what you use. So what if you get 30GB in the UK. Move there then. Luckily Telkom limits your browsing time by offering low caps so you can do other things in your life like get a job and brush your teeth. Things you'll be grateful for when looking for employment overseas. Now if only someone would do something about the price of air tickets (hey great idea for a new website, oops there is one already).

Fair, the only problem is, the unfair advantage folks overseas have over our local creative minds when it comes to creating commercial content and spreading it. Then we are ****ed.

5. Seriously, why do you need 30GB of bandwidth a month? Lemme guess, you have all the latest DivX movies, OS ISO's and games? Piracy, it's quite straightfoward. Of course you'll be the first one in the queue complaining when CD, DVD and game prices go up (maybe you'll start a new website www.ihatemusica.com)


In short, Telkom is your best bet like it or not so rather spend your time doing something constructive than bashing them constantly.

What folks use their bandwidth for is irrelevant to the fact that whether it be 1Mb or a million Mb the per meg price is too expensive. Okay, let me put it another way. The Internet is an economic weapon these days. It is a driver of technology and the economy in an increasingly important way. Many companies cannot function competitively without it. That is a reality. On a macro scale our country is at a deficit when it comes to our competitive ability in comparison with other important countries to which we need to benchmark ourselves for advancement.

Even more simply put, and yes this sounds dramatic because it is. The Internet is like an army of soldiers. Bandwidth is the ammunition. He who has the most ammo can simply overrun the "enemy"....

Those little garage startups seldom come from South Africa. Not because they aren't here, but simply because it is too expensive to try. They end up going overseas like you suggested and help find companies like Google and You Tube.

Still wondering what your motivations are though...

 

[bekdik]

And what about the high cost of hosting locally?