Talk, talk, talk, but no action whatsoever - the problem with the DoC

That pic of Dina Pule makes her look a like a villain from a bad comic book movie :sick:
 
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Pule is not really a villain - but there is no doubt that if she messes up telecoms policy, it will have real, severe and negative consequences for the quality of life of every South African and our overall global competitiveness for years to come.
 
MyBB: 31 july 2011 - "100% broadband penetration in SA by 2020: DoC"

it's almost a year later and still there is no real plan on how they're going to do this? perhaps they read that story about the shoemaker and the elves? this is a golden opportunity for someone to rewrite that children's story and update it to be about the minister of communication and the elves (or perhaps the illegal immigrant workers?).

(my intellectual property, but we can work out a deal)
 
I run wireless links across the greater Cape Town area and have tons of unused bandwidth which I cannot sell off due to the legal issues around this.
How about issuing special licenses to people like me who can help make a difference.

Oh wait, that would make Telkom redundant.
 
"chep reliable broadband connection" - is it possible to use those four words together in SA, knowing that we have a lot of people living on minimum wage?

bekdik said:
But maybe a chep reliable broadband connection will act as a business enabler, which in turn will reduce unemployed count?
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FatBoySlim said:
holy crap, I can think of way more things the poor need than broadband internet!
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Have you ever spent any time in a rural community with almost 100% unemployment? Broadband access is VITAL. It is an enabler and multiplier of tremendous scale. Yes, you need to sort out a few things like water and basic sanitation, but to allow a community to get past relying on handouts all the time you need to provide a means to do this. Something you might not realise is that someone out in a rural community has no access to information, a communication means and education - broadband (with some specific implementation components) can solve these problems. So while it is not a solution to all ills in itself it makes delivery of real interventions possible at a much lower cost.

I will cite a few simple examples:
ID books, birth and death certificates are needed. Normally someone would need to make multiple long distance trips that would cost a lot of money or many wasted trips by the mobile Home Affairs unit would be made. With a small public internet access centre for a community a simple poll could allow an accurate measure of demand and Home Affairs could plan accordingly. Note these documents are needed for jobs, subsidies, benefits, healthcare etc.
People can also access and request gov services online, thus allowing efficient planning from gov.
Online training and education, distance learning and simple meetings between local officials and national/provincial officials are suddenly easier and cheaper.
A local nurse or doctor could video conference to a major medical centre to get assistance on diagnosis and/or treatment via skype or something as simple as that.
Business, email is a very simple yet valuable tool that most people undervalue these days. Now add the fact that these people don't have physical addresses for post either. Imagine trying to run any sort of business with no email, no car, no postal address, no access to info as simple as a phone book and a prepaid mobile with R10 airtime a month while living 60kms from the nearest bank/petrol station/shop/transport/hardware store etc.

Really it is a no-brainer. I don't know why so much money is spent on building things like tar roads to these communities when they don't even have cars, broadband would be a MUCH better investment.
 
The heading makes me think of the brilliant add campaign by BT in England in the 90's, starring Bob Hoskins "It's good to talk". Maybe we should adapt it slightly: "It's good to stop talking at some stage".
You think he will donate some of his time for a good cause?
 
entrepr said:
Pule is not really a villain - but there is no doubt that if she messes up telecoms policy, it will have real, severe and negative consequences for the quality of life of every South African and our overall global competitiveness for years to come.
Click to expand...

I agree. It might be better if these ministers were evil instead of incompetent. The result is the same though as their incompetence is screwing up our country for years to come.

What is biggest government mess up since '94? Mine would be:
1.) Thabo Mbeki - Aids denial
2.) Alec Erwin - as Minister of Public Enterprises, he was asleep at the wheel when the reports were saying we would run out of power
 
South African telecommunications would be better off without a Department of Communications. Imagine such a statement being true, oh wait :whistle:
 
Skerminkel said:
The heading makes me think of the brilliant add campaign by BT in England in the 90's, starring Bob Hoskins "It's good to talk". Maybe we should adapt it slightly: "It's good to stop talking at some stage".
You think he will donate some of his time for a good cause?
Click to expand...

i like this
perhaps we can get pieter uys and karel pienaar to present a series of ads along the lines of "Talk is expensive"
 
She will not take one bit of notice of what Vavi and industry is telling her. She has her agenda and will stick to it, come hell or high water and whether or not the country needs it. Another good example of a disaster in the making, hindering instead of helping. The previous minister of communications that died was no better. You wonder where these people get their qualifications for the job from?
 
Bern said:
Have you ever spent any time in a rural community with almost 100% unemployment? Broadband access is VITAL. It is an enabler and multiplier of tremendous scale. Yes, you need to sort out a few things like water and basic sanitation, but to allow a community to get past relying on handouts all the time you need to provide a means to do this. Something you might not realise is that someone out in a rural community has no access to information, a communication means and education - broadband (with some specific implementation components) can solve these problems. So while it is not a solution to all ills in itself it makes delivery of real interventions possible at a much lower cost.

I will cite a few simple examples:
ID books, birth and death certificates are needed. Normally someone would need to make multiple long distance trips that would cost a lot of money or many wasted trips by the mobile Home Affairs unit would be made. With a small public internet access centre for a community a simple poll could allow an accurate measure of demand and Home Affairs could plan accordingly. Note these documents are needed for jobs, subsidies, benefits, healthcare etc.
People can also access and request gov services online, thus allowing efficient planning from gov.
Online training and education, distance learning and simple meetings between local officials and national/provincial officials are suddenly easier and cheaper.
A local nurse or doctor could video conference to a major medical centre to get assistance on diagnosis and/or treatment via skype or something as simple as that.
Business, email is a very simple yet valuable tool that most people undervalue these days. Now add the fact that these people don't have physical addresses for post either. Imagine trying to run any sort of business with no email, no car, no postal address, no access to info as simple as a phone book and a prepaid mobile with R10 airtime a month while living 60kms from the nearest bank/petrol station/shop/transport/hardware store etc.

Really it is a no-brainer. I don't know why so much money is spent on building things like tar roads to these communities when they don't even have cars, broadband would be a MUCH better investment.
Click to expand...
+1000

Can I add:
Online banking
Traffic fines
Vehicle licensing
Account payments online
Education research for students (Esp Limpopo with no books)
Applications for bursaries
Applications for tertiary education
and the list goes on.

The money these people will save in travel expenses can feed them for more than a week
Some people pay R400-R600 for a return trip of about < 100kms to get access to vital services. That's my petrol bill for a week.

And all that saved money will flow back into the economy
Dammit!!! build the network already.
Pule move you @rse
 
I gotta say, I agree fully with this:

Cosatu General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi recently said that one of the biggest problems in South Africa is “talk, talk, talk, conference, conference, conference, summit, summit, summit, resolution, resolution, resolution, declaration, declaration, declaration. No action whatsoever”.
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Why dont they start with wrapping up the LLU issue?
 
Bern said:
Have you ever spent any time in a rural community with almost 100% unemployment? Broadband access is VITAL. It is an enabler and multiplier of tremendous scale. Yes, you need to sort out a few things like water and basic sanitation, but to allow a community to get past relying on handouts all the time you need to provide a means to do this. Something you might not realise is that someone out in a rural community has no access to information, a communication means and education - broadband (with some specific implementation components) can solve these problems. So while it is not a solution to all ills in itself it makes delivery of real interventions possible at a much lower cost.

I will cite a few simple examples:
ID books, birth and death certificates are needed. Normally someone would need to make multiple long distance trips that would cost a lot of money or many wasted trips by the mobile Home Affairs unit would be made. With a small public internet access centre for a community a simple poll could allow an accurate measure of demand and Home Affairs could plan accordingly. Note these documents are needed for jobs, subsidies, benefits, healthcare etc.
People can also access and request gov services online, thus allowing efficient planning from gov.
Online training and education, distance learning and simple meetings between local officials and national/provincial officials are suddenly easier and cheaper.
A local nurse or doctor could video conference to a major medical centre to get assistance on diagnosis and/or treatment via skype or something as simple as that.
Business, email is a very simple yet valuable tool that most people undervalue these days. Now add the fact that these people don't have physical addresses for post either. Imagine trying to run any sort of business with no email, no car, no postal address, no access to info as simple as a phone book and a prepaid mobile with R10 airtime a month while living 60kms from the nearest bank/petrol station/shop/transport/hardware store etc.

Really it is a no-brainer. I don't know why so much money is spent on building things like tar roads to these communities when they don't even have cars, broadband would be a MUCH better investment.
Click to expand...

The main thing with internet is that it is cheaper to provide than electricity or water... So it is actually an easy win. It's just that the way the government's BBBEE things go they get away with keeping internet rates so high and nobody can say anything about it. Effed up, but that's the way it is.
 
If mybroadband had any non-white employees, maybe they'd have a clue about the issues affecting people in townships. There's huge demand and they aren't being serviced by Telcos.

As a consumer activist site with a goal of trying to increase broadband affordability and penetration, maybe it would be wise if this was given at least some focus. You may even see the ANC government take more notice as it is their voters who are directly affected. Until then, they take mybb's articles with a pinch of salt and probably ignore them totally if they read the posts on the forum
 
Does anyone else think that Dina Pule looks like a more masculine version of Caster Semenya? I swear, every time I see that picture I think it's someone in drag.
 
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