DGremlin
Well-Known Member
This is more of a rant than anything, and perhaps I am misguided or wrong in every way but anyway ... 
I was thinking about this whole new price system ( current and Nov 1 ).
Since a lot of people have taken some time to work out roughly that internationally we have more than enough bandwidth for the current number of users, I can't be that.
Telkom uses as its main argument the fact that everything is so wide spread, and yet there are parts of Johannesburg that do not have ADSL ( Soweto is a primary example ), places where there is a very high density of people and phones, so this argument to at least a small extent seems to fall away. They can argue that it is the cost of getting distant rural areas connected, but this does not count as distant rural areas are not connected to DSL at all, some do not even have phones, so that part of the arguement at this stage has no strength.
Costs of infrastructure, well that is most definately a reality, but as a customer I should not have to absorb Telkoms upgrading and modernising of infrastructure to the degree I am, infrustructure which should have been upgraded and modernised over time but with only a small cost effect on the customer, but instead Telkom seems to be in the proccess of major upgrades and fixes all along the line, and is passing the cost onto the "higher" end customer, the ones paying for the more expensive communications options, the cheaper ( and lower ), communications options carry the brunt aswell, but to not such a visible effect and to greater public scrutiny.
Besides does not my DSL line to a large extent follow the same route as my phone, ( exchanges etc ), so why then do I not have a huge phone bill ? Central infrastructure can not only be used for dedicated DSL, certainly parts yes, but not an to extent implied.
If there is truly bandwidth available why ration the customer
SO why the costs, well my theories :
1) Infrastructure, Telkom is playing catch up, and using higher DSL costs to minimise the load on this central infrastructure, meaning less intensive upgrades and infrastructure needs, this way it keeps there costs down.
2) Market control, it is a simple perhaps stupid thing to do, but they can and do,
3) If Telkom allowed a no cap or even higher cap ( 30 GB to 50 Gb ), I reckon Telkom thinks that we as users would use the DSL for commercial purposed, be its dialup, or hosting web sites, and since this would pull a lot of business from itself ( directly or indirectly ), again they preserve there business and throttle my ability to present myself and any product I may have to the world.
4) Bottom line, has never been ignored,
5) Per Gig billing is something that probably was on the books, and as the market has grown and ISPs used ways to circumvent Telkoms controls, so they have implemented a harder system, designed to benefit users who do not exceed 3GB and make those who work above the 3Gb pay, and thus bring those users back into line and again minimise load on infrastructure and ( maybe SAT3 )
I have any number of theories but I will simmer and smulder on those for a while longer
I was thinking about this whole new price system ( current and Nov 1 ).
Since a lot of people have taken some time to work out roughly that internationally we have more than enough bandwidth for the current number of users, I can't be that.
Telkom uses as its main argument the fact that everything is so wide spread, and yet there are parts of Johannesburg that do not have ADSL ( Soweto is a primary example ), places where there is a very high density of people and phones, so this argument to at least a small extent seems to fall away. They can argue that it is the cost of getting distant rural areas connected, but this does not count as distant rural areas are not connected to DSL at all, some do not even have phones, so that part of the arguement at this stage has no strength.
Costs of infrastructure, well that is most definately a reality, but as a customer I should not have to absorb Telkoms upgrading and modernising of infrastructure to the degree I am, infrustructure which should have been upgraded and modernised over time but with only a small cost effect on the customer, but instead Telkom seems to be in the proccess of major upgrades and fixes all along the line, and is passing the cost onto the "higher" end customer, the ones paying for the more expensive communications options, the cheaper ( and lower ), communications options carry the brunt aswell, but to not such a visible effect and to greater public scrutiny.
Besides does not my DSL line to a large extent follow the same route as my phone, ( exchanges etc ), so why then do I not have a huge phone bill ? Central infrastructure can not only be used for dedicated DSL, certainly parts yes, but not an to extent implied.
If there is truly bandwidth available why ration the customer
SO why the costs, well my theories :
1) Infrastructure, Telkom is playing catch up, and using higher DSL costs to minimise the load on this central infrastructure, meaning less intensive upgrades and infrastructure needs, this way it keeps there costs down.
2) Market control, it is a simple perhaps stupid thing to do, but they can and do,
3) If Telkom allowed a no cap or even higher cap ( 30 GB to 50 Gb ), I reckon Telkom thinks that we as users would use the DSL for commercial purposed, be its dialup, or hosting web sites, and since this would pull a lot of business from itself ( directly or indirectly ), again they preserve there business and throttle my ability to present myself and any product I may have to the world.
4) Bottom line, has never been ignored,
5) Per Gig billing is something that probably was on the books, and as the market has grown and ISPs used ways to circumvent Telkoms controls, so they have implemented a harder system, designed to benefit users who do not exceed 3GB and make those who work above the 3Gb pay, and thus bring those users back into line and again minimise load on infrastructure and ( maybe SAT3 )
I have any number of theories but I will simmer and smulder on those for a while longer