This first mistake that was made by government was to allow a "private" company to be in charge of a critical component like communication. Its second mistake was to be a part owner of such company. Because of these two factors ICASA was born to keep an eye on things because lets face it Telkom has been out of hand for a long time now. I believe regulation is in order for the time being and Telkom as a company is not going to be sustainable if they carry on in the way that it has. To me it almost seems like the shareholders are in this for a quick buck only and this ultimately will be their downfall.
Let’s have a look @ the Telkom business model to see what is wrong here, please note this is my view so bash it if you like.... Firstly Telkom itself has never invested in it's own Technology everything they've ever done the public and consumers have paid for, The SAT3 cable as well as the national infrastructure was paid for by you me and Joe Soap. None of the profits have been ploughed back into development and it seems that kind of cash has only been destined for fat greedy pockets. Now that these infrastructures have been paid for certain people are making a killing at the expense of the consumer who in the end has no choice in the matter.
I believe Telkom must become a state owned entity again and profits should be used for expansion and rollout only. No one can tell me that the new Privatized Telkom has become better than the old one, in fact I know it’s the complete opposite.