The fixed-line future

[rpm]

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/Telecoms/935.html

 

[Inertia]

Good article, interesting read

 

[andres101]

Scott Morrison, research director at Garner, says this model is very similar to that implemented in Britain, after British Telecom (BT) created a new division - BT OpenReach - which is the custodian of its local loop.

BT does give other companies access to the LL (local loop), but it comes at a price. Not monetary, but service! They are the only ones allowed to work on the lines, so if there is a problem and your line has been ported, they simply assign the fault a low priority and it can take months for them to repair the line.

The BT technicians quite often convince the customers to switch back to BT because of the superior service.

Their tactics remind me of Telkom. I hope GVT can learn from the mistakes made in the UK. They should consult with the companies that are actually making use of the lines (like Carphone Warehouse) to find out how to stop Telkom from using similar tactics.

 

[Tns]

LLU has been talked about for a while now, but as per normal nothing much has actually been done

 

[ldmelsa]

And he says that if Icasa manages to ensure availability of the first of the local loops from the incumbent in a limited geography by mid-2008 that would be progress in the right direction.

No. That would be progress in the impossible direction.

 

[Ricard]

BT does give other companies access to the LL (local loop), but it comes at a price. Not monetary, but service! They are the only ones allowed to work on the lines, so if there is a problem and your line has been ported, they simply assign the fault a low priority and it can take months for them to repair the line.

The BT technicians quite often convince the customers to switch back to BT because of the superior service.

BT own the lines... there still IS a BT line rental fee even if you are with another provider (such as Talk-Talk)

As for the extended repair times, I find that hard to believe.. The ombudsman(ofcom) wont take the anti-competitive behavior of BT.... unlike ICASA, the telco ombudsman in the UK -actually- does work.

 

[DragonLogos]

I have been thinking about this for a while, and often thought that given half the chance Telkom would ditch fixed line if they could. Problem is fixed line will always be your basic building block, Telkom's habit of pushing the profit envelope is just a conflict waiting to happen, and one that they would better to be rid off

So the logical conclusion of what needs to be done is to set up a company that will look after the fixed line network, and needless to say reading what happened to BT was interesting to say the least. The further it is removed from Telkom the better for everyone - Smart thinking is more about forward planning than it is about turning a profit, but then there is no reason why both targets should not be reached