We just can't win!

[Myrrdin]

I am not entirely sure of the validity of the following email I received today so thought I'd put it out there for discussion.

History
Sentech began operations in 1992 under the auspices of the SABC, as a signal
distributor for all transmissions related to the SABC. This mandate included
services provided to M-Net, Radio 702, Radio Ciskei, Transkei and
Bophuthatswana Broadcasting Corporation.
In its Triple Inquiry report published in August 1995, the Independent
Broadcasting Authority (IBA) recommended that Sentech be split from the SABC
and that Sentech become a public company, with all signal distribution
facilities of the former TBVC states and staff also being transferred to
Sentech. The IBA report was approved by Parliament in March 1996 and a
Sentech Act to implement these measures was adopted by Parliament in
November 1996.
Sentech now operates as a commercial state owned enterprise with its own
board of directors.


Swonk taht eno ylno eht si nidrrym.

 

[lewstherin]

Your email is pretty accurate - by why say that we can't win?

I assume because Sentech remains state-owned? Im sure you will agree that competition in the data connection market is needed in whatever shape or form. I think the fact that Sentech has taken the leap of faith in bringing about MyWireless has shown they behave in a far more entrepeneurial manner - I mean they could have just stuck with providing TV signals (bet Telkom would have if they were in Sentech's position) []

Also given that there are going to be 2 partners for Sentech in a few weeks, it shows that they are not trying to monopolise the service provider portion of the market they have created - something Hellkom is in court for doing.

I can only speak on the evidence of Sentech's actions thus far, so of course they could still go the route of Hellkom. In the end though, would you care if a company was state-owned if it provided decent service at decent prices? I know I wouldn't...

<font color="blue">Telkom needs a leash, ICASA needs some guts, and the </font id="blue"><font color="red">SA consumer</font id="red"><font color="blue"> needs to make it happen</font id="blue">

 

[BTTB]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">would you care if a company was state-owned if it provided decent service at decent prices?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Good point.

One of the main reasons people are peeved a Telkom. A state owned parastatal should of been kept in check by its regulating authority. The public are dissapointed in the "investment" they made over several decades. So much money wasted and we still cant see the light at the end of the tunnel.

<b><hr noshade size="1"></b><font size="2"><font color="red"><b>You can take Telkom out of the Post Office but you can't take the Post Office out of Telkom.</b></font id="red"></font id="size2">

 

[Myrrdin]

My apologies. That "We just cant win" was just the title of the email. Sorry if it caused confusion.[]

I do however have a problem with the fact that we need another state owned company to provide broadband services which should have been available through adsl and it is at a slightly increased price btw. I know I am probably being paranoid but compare Telkom and Sentech. 512kb is more than telkom adsl with your isp charges. As is stated in various topics throughout this forum there is only one link out of south africa so you have to go through the same portal so they could throeretically be running proper adsl connection with a wirelss lan to service it, Sentech offers better service (depending on who you talk to) whereas telkom seems to go out of their way to displease adsl users. By people running away to Sentech they are merely paying more for the modem, the monthly charges and the 24 month contract. Eventually the only people on adsl will be the occasinally browse and email users while all the rest of us have migrated to Sentech. So the state have got you to pay more for a service which should have been lower on adsl. I know sentech is probably doing better, but telkom is not going to fix adsl if it can say to you "Go over to sentech if you are unhappy". We should in fact be promoting adsl to more and more people and thus with pressure get them to fix adsl to what it is suppose to be. I did see the post about the new internet over power lines report that is doing the rounds. Could we expect that to be in SA before adsl is a proper service. [}] That would be sad. As for voting with your buck, that has no effect on any state owned company. They pay any losses out of your taxes anyway.

Swonk taht eno ylno eht si nidrrym.