Why can't telkom do it

[Undertaker]

Apprently there are ppl thinking telkom must keep the line rental in order to maintein and roll out ADSL network.

It doesn't matter if u support that idea or not, my only question is:

WHY CAN'T TELKOM DO IT WHILE NATIONAL OPERATOR FROM OTHER COUNTRY CAN ???

in many of other countries, there r more than one national operators, yet they all still be able to provide fast (much faster) and stable (much more stable) ADSL service with reasonable price, and yet telkom is monopoly in SA telephone market, every cent goes to them (don't tell me any telecommunication cost here is cheap, COZ IT'S NOT), and they complaining if the ADSL rental is cut then they can't do mainteinence ??

I'll be glad if someone can explain to me WHY they'll have such a problem, otherwise they r just giving whole bunch of execuse to suck more blood out of us.

 

[eye_suc]

obviously Telkom uses gold scooby-dooby wires and the DSLAMS are manufactured in Antarctica, because we all know electronics like the cold. The high cost of these DSLAMS are thanks to the transport costs involved in training penguins to tug them all the way to Cape Town harbour.

<sarcasm_mode = off>

No, i think there is NO way they can justify those prices, unless my feeble attempt at poking at the truth is actually true.

 

[Soulburner]

Rofl

 

[Alkine]

execuse to suck more blood out of us

and eye_suc knows all about sucking or should i say sucing

 

[GougedEye]

The point as I understand it is that we pay two line rentals for one line. We rent the phone line (which many of us don't want). We rent the same phone line again and call it an ADSL line.

On top of this of course we have to buy some internet to send down the line. (generally from Telkom).

And of course you are paying top dollar for this slow, ludicrously capped ADSL.

Everywhere else in the world you pay once only. And you get everything you need. Only here can you have ADSL and not have an internet connection.

And why do I pay a different line rental for 192 / 328 / 512 / 1024? It's the same piece of copper in the same port just with a different software setting. Remeber, there is no data on the line yet. You merely are paying for the priviledge of sticking you copper wires in a different port. You don't have Internet yet. Why the different charges?

So as I understand it, if you have an phone line (renting some copper), you should pay a once off fee to upgrade that line to ADSL. This involves sticking the copper into a different port at the exchange (which currently cost R400 and takes about a month) Then you continue to pay the same rental for the same piece of copper. OK, lets be fair, the new port must be bought etc, so there is CAPEX. So lets say you now pay a higher rental (same as ISDN). But not a ludicrously higher rental. And it should include the phone line as one charge, not a hidden compulsory additional charge.

Then you pay an ISP for Internet (part of which will end up in Telkom's coffers).

 

[eye_suc]

and eye_suc knows all about sucking or should i say sucing

yes... yes i do

point is, like undertaker quite rightly pointed out, other countries do not have this same problem. i saw some references elsewhere to case studies where they try to cater for 2000 users. thats an interesting read.

can cable theft be responsible for the R477 maintenance on a piece of wire that probably will never ever be stolen? and why does 'n 192 user pay R270 for maintenance on his wire? is the wire to slow to steal?

the logic isnt there. its like trying to prove the earth is flat and that Michael Jackson is human...

 

[rsd]

obviously Telkom uses gold scooby-dooby wires and the DSLAMS are manufactured in Antarctica, because we all know electronics like the cold. The high cost of these DSLAMS are thanks to the transport costs involved in training penguins to tug them all the way to Cape Town harbour.

rofl...

 

[mas]

can cable theft be responsible for the R477 maintenance on a piece of wire that probably will never ever be stolen? and why does 'n 192 user pay R270 for maintenance on his wire? is the wire to slow to steal?

the logic isnt there. its like trying to prove the earth is flat and that Michael Jackson is human...

LoL!

 

[kaspaas]

Telkom wants to confuse the issue - hence it splits the cost of ADSL to the end user in 2 components "line rental" and "ISP"

Now it is very difficult to comprehend the system. Have a look at the many reports, and see how many refered only to the "line rental" aspect of South African ADSL.

The moment ADSL costs are combined into a single amount, things look much different.

Instead of advertising "192 ADSL at the affordable price of R270" - add fine print "ISP charges excluded"

the advert has to read "192 ADSL at the rip-of price of R520"

Technically I'm sure Telkom can offer a system where the ISP purchases the full product wholesale from Telkom and the ISP then gets burdened to collect the full ADSL cost from the client (R520 etc).

But from a marketing perspective, it would be bad. By splitting the total ADSL costs, Telkom ensures the cost structure is complex enough to confuse the market and, so they will hope I'm sure, ICASA as well.

 

[R4tt3xx]

From how I now understand ADSL working thanx to a brilliant website, Telkom has NO right to charge an additional line fee as THERE IS NO ADDITIONAL LINE. It's the same piece of copper that runs from the exchange to the client. In my opinion it very unfair for the "ISPs" to not have the power to install their own connections to the client DSLAM. It is an international fact that each DSLAM is unique and can even be assigned an IP. Each DSLAM even gets it's own bandwidth allocated to it.
What Telkom is doing in my personal opinion is linking their own ISP (Telkomza.net - Telkom Internet) to all the client DSLAMS which is unfair as we have so many ISPs in this country, not all of them have international connectivity but for the ones that do namely IS and UUNET, they should be allowed access to the client's DSLAM.

Telkom is mearly the provider of the hardware in this case, just supplying the structure for Internet connectivity not the connectivity itself.

Its time for Telkom to leave.

 

[MaD]

The line rental is there to pay off the DSL equipment and the rollout.. by the time the SNO arrives next century, Telkom can do away with the line rental without breaking a sweat as everything will be paid off - and then some.