let me be the first to comment directly on the quality of the "article". There isn't any evidence of research, for example into what strategies Neotel examined and how they chose what they went for. Also no discussion of their "technology". For a layman like me its difficicut to understand how a large firm could be still selling something with such a high failure rate?!?! The rate at which they eroded what was probably their biggest asset, the negativity towards Telkom, was simply astounding.....
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What went wrong with Neotel
- Thread starter tinman
- Start date
Neotel was starting Pandy said: "Prices should be a third of what its now!"
Then they came out with offerings more expensive than Telkom, wireless (thus **** latency) and service and expertise worse than Telkom.
Ill never trust them.
Then they came out with offerings more expensive than Telkom, wireless (thus **** latency) and service and expertise worse than Telkom.
Ill never trust them.
They could have made a killing competing with Telkom in the residential fixed line business... instead they chose to avoid competition as much as possible and focussed on a niche market that couldn't feed a spaza shop... Not too late... If Neotel invested initially in getting at least one city in this country hooked to a good fixed line alternative to Telkom they would have looked much better... I pitty them. Neotel blew it by arrangement...
I would have loved to be privy to that discussion somewhere in government where the deal was made for Neotel not to piss on Telkom's parade...
I would have loved to be privy to that discussion somewhere in government where the deal was made for Neotel not to piss on Telkom's parade...
How? Do you have any idea what it costs to put that infrastructure in place?
It's near impossible to achieve, especially in the time frames people here are talking about. Show me another SNO out there in the world that rolled out it's own fixed line network in a short space of time without having access to LLU or buying out a cable company, neither of which we have here.
Neotel have been putting fibre in to certain areas and places (or so their website claims). So they would just need to expand a system they are installing anyway. Perhaps not fibre, but copper if really needed. But they should already have the expertise.
BY DIGGING HOLES AND PUTTING PEOPLE TO WORK MAYBE???!??
How do they do it across the world??? Pretty profitable business last time I checked...
Look, I am firmly of the belief that Neotel was told as part of their pre-licensing negotiation not to compete with Telkom in the residential fixed line market. So the debate is pretty moot for me personally. The LLU is a massive issue because it should have been opened up a long time ago. We have tons of people trying to sound very clever and smart about why it has taken so long and probably will take even longer. "Oh it is so massively expensive...", "Telkom needs time to get it organized...", "How will they organize it??!?"..., "oh woe it is impossible to do, poor Neotel... just think of the costs!!!" and "who else could do it??!!??"... Blah blah tear tear... CRY ME A ****ING RIVER!!!!!!!!!!
It has become a sport of some sort because it is a very easy way of sounding very clever about the South African telecoms situation because odds are YOU WILL TURN OUT TO BE RIGHT... Why? Because we have been and are being ****ed over with regards to residential fixed lines. Neotel wasn't going to touch it because it has been agreed upon. Simple. Now with all the cable thieves going around pulling out cables with tracktors and what not there is this wonderful other excuse to avoide fixed lines... It is a mess. Please don't hand me the bull**** of it is too expensive to service the residential areas... Yes it isn't cheap but it isn't impossible for a company with the capital of TATA behind it... How do you think the rest of the world installs fixed lines in cities?!!? Nobody is doing it at a loss... so don't even go down that road...
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BY DIGGING HOLES AND PUTTING PEOPLE TO WORK MAYBE???!??
How do they do it across the world??? Pretty profitable business last time I checked...
That costs lots of money.
Show me a new operator that entered an existing market that dug trenches, installed poles and ran cables to houses.
To my knowledge there are none because it is to expensive but I await the examples you are going to backup your claims with.
Running fiber to rich or dense population business areas in cities is much easier and they are doing that already
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Those cables are apparently for their business customers... But yes, it could be put to some very good use if only corruption didn't stop it... There I said it... and I don't have proof... CORRUPTION IS PREVENTING NEOTEL FROM KICKING TELKOM IN THE NUTS!!!
The fixed line market for residential use should be opened up, LLU must happen ASAP and everybody with a nose for business should be able to get into the act. We have messed about and *****footed about long enough... In fact I would suggest people forget licensing and just do it! (AT YOUR OWN RISK OF COURSE) Our regulatory bodies are far too slow and cumbersome (and corrupt) for us to sit around wasting our own time...
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If you are debating whether existing links to homes should become public property for use by any operator... then we agree... do I think operators should be able to put in their own links... yes I do... What does it matter whether a Telkom pole is next to a Neotel pole??? If that is what it takes then so be it... If they can do it elsewhere so can we... ESPECIALLY IN CITIES LIKE JHB AND PTA.... NOT TO MENTION CPT, PMB etc....
I will have to manage some way of extracting what you want from a Google search my experience tells me will not yield results... as won't yours... At least not conclusively. What I do know is that fixed line competition overseas is healthy and profitable. Neotel is not investing in fixed residential because they have an agreement not to. That is my opinion. Unproven but alas it is just my opinion. I am pretty sure Telkom and Neotel support your theories wholeheartedly!
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The writer is being disingenuous, for starters, Neotel have not provided competition in the domestic landline i.e cable market. All they appear to have done is provide a wireless option (thus competing with existing wireless providers) while laying down an enormous amount of cable on the curb.
Last mile cable access to the door has been totally ignored. If the writer had any credentials as a telco commentator he/she would have immediately picked up on this aspect of the current Cable monopoly.
It is a travesty that Neotel have not been rapped over the knuckles by the national regulator Icasa for failing to provide consumers with any options except a failed "business option".
Last mile access and cable to the door is what is needed to provide true broadband capabilities.
ZA-FREE demands next generation fibre optic cables and 1GB access NOW!
Last mile cable access to the door has been totally ignored. If the writer had any credentials as a telco commentator he/she would have immediately picked up on this aspect of the current Cable monopoly.
It is a travesty that Neotel have not been rapped over the knuckles by the national regulator Icasa for failing to provide consumers with any options except a failed "business option".
Last mile access and cable to the door is what is needed to provide true broadband capabilities.
ZA-FREE demands next generation fibre optic cables and 1GB access NOW!
MidnightWizard
Executive Member
Transtel / Eskom
As I understood it Neotel where to have been given the main trunk line infrastructure of Transtel and Eskom ?
This has now gone to INFRACO.
I think Neotel paid for a pound of flesh but only got a bit of mouldy biltong !
The ANC really know how to turn caviar into cr@p
As I understood it Neotel where to have been given the main trunk line infrastructure of Transtel and Eskom ?
This has now gone to INFRACO.
I think Neotel paid for a pound of flesh but only got a bit of mouldy biltong !
The ANC really know how to turn caviar into cr@p
I have a problem with the poles thing as it could be an eyesore, I would prefer it if they used the same pole.
You keep on referring to elsewhere rolling out fixed line networks, where?
You are now jumping between LLU and own fixed line network, what is it?
Because there aren't any. They all function on the premise of having access to LLU or existing cable tv networks. With time they have upgraded their backbones & cable networks but they still use the copper from the local incumbents instead of rolling out there own for things like adsl etc. This is healthy and profitable but it's not their own new network they are using.
Okay.
1. Yes it can be an eyesore. Sharing would be better but if for some reason they can't then do your own.
2. What was the first telephone call ever made on? Sorry you force me to be sarcastic. FIXED LINE TELEPHONE LINES AROUND THE GLOBE... PLANET EARTH!!!
3. LLU should have happened already. It should however not stop them from putting up their own infrastructure. LLU would have made it easier to get their services into homes....
No. There are. It is just not the type of information I expect to find without running into a password or having to pay for a research article...
You can get Fibre to your house with Neotel. Sure, it isn't cheap as it is aimed at small businesses, but you can still get it (Provided you dont live out in the burbs/sticks)
what happened to all those orange pipes they were laying though?
Lol, that's no different to what Neotel has done for business in SA and on a smaller scale 11x11km, pffttt.
http://www.nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/details.php?category=topnews&id=3076
Show me the copper network. Neotel can provide you with the same service at a price obviously.
Just how far do you think you get with US$50-mil? If you think you can roll out a copper network for that price then I wish you the best of luck.
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FTTH FTW. Why do you go on about the price of copper if you can go Fiber for that price?
Neotel is R5,3bn in the red, what the hell did they do with all that money? They could have had a pretty decent network by now for that money.
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Because others were speaking about rolling out a copper network. FFTH is also expensive btw, that's why they are targeting the business market, higher density and more income.
You quoted the price for installing a 125 sq km fiber network in nigeria at $50 mil, at that price they could probably cover half of joburg (650 sq kms) for R1.8bil with 260 000 fiber connections.