Why no Contract?

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prinsk

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The most used phrase in the forum is "do not sign a contract".

Why?

If I am getting a ADSL line from telkom, I am going to have it for a while. The monthly charges with and without a contract are the same. If I am paying anyway, what is difference, other than the free ADSL router and installation.

OK Installation does not mean much, but a free 4 port router will come in handy :-)

The only reason I can think of not to sign a contract is, in case I want to change to the SNO.

Is that the only reason? Are there any other valid reasons (Other than it is telkom)

Will the SNO be ready anytime soon?

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Keith
 
Well the router is **** to start off with. The telecoms enviroment is changing very fast so if things change drastically do u want to be cuffed with telkom when things change just. Its just stupid and its not like u getting any extras worth mentioning... U can get a good router for what? R500-R700... But its your line but don't cry when things change and ur stuck... cuz we all gonna say "Told u so."
 
There's a technology called WIMAX - it's the next generation Wireless broadband network.
Teklom has a temporary licence, but both teklom and SNO must apply for permanent licenses.
Point is - if you're stuck in a 2 year contract, you will not be able to get out when the new technologies come along that may be hugeley cheaper than the current offerings.
But - then again, the current offerings should drop price accordingly to match the competition.
Personally - I don't sign 2 year contracts - a lot can happen in 2 years.
 
My 24 month contract expires in like June, and I kind of dig my free el-cheapo modem. I got a little scared as we approach November, but with the way things turned out I've got no regrets.
 
fewl said:
My 24 month contract expires in like June, and I kind of dig my free el-cheapo modem. I got a little scared as we approach November, but with the way things turned out I've got no regrets.
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Same situation here,

I signed a 2 year contract, and it hasn't been so bad... The 4 port router is ok, it hasn't given me any hassels.

The other nice thing is; the other day when we were having all these power issues, my router blew up... (18 months into the contract). I thought "what the hell" and took it back to Telkom, they swapped it out for me, no questions.

Well he did ask when I got ADSL, I said I couln't remember.
 
Scooby_Doo said:
Well the router is **** to start off with. The telecoms enviroment is changing very fast so if things change drastically do u want to be cuffed with telkom when things change just. Its just stupid and its not like u getting any extras worth mentioning... U can get a good router for what? R500-R700... But its your line but don't cry when things change and ur stuck... cuz we all gonna say "Told u so."
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Granted, the telecoms environment is changing at the speed of light, but this is SOUTH AFRICA for Pete's sake !!! Our telecoms is changing at the speed of tortoises stampeding through wet tar ! The SNO will hopefully be launching 3rd quarter 2006, and that is if they can get the Black Equity partner to spit out R5.5 billion, or Tata Indicom ups its investment.

I've got a 2-year Telkom contract, and apart from them making a mess of it by charging me an Installation Fee (got a refund though) I've been happy. I'm even considering getting a Telkom 3Gb account, cos it seems they are capping only between 40-60Gb at the mo'. I'm with IS (Openweb) and everything is brilliant, but the fact that I get softcapped at 3Gb vs Telkom's high cap is grinding my u-know-what!!!
 
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Trent242 said:
I'm even considering getting a Telkom 3Gb account, cos it seems they are capping only between 40-60Gb at the mo'. I'm with IS (Openweb) and everything is brilliant, but the fact that I get softcapped at 3Gb vs Telkom's high cap is grinding my u-know-what!!!
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I heard that Telkom is going to start capping more severely from January. So your joy will be short-lived if you move to it.
 
pimal3 said:
I heard that Telkom is going to start capping more severely from January. So your joy will be short-lived if you move to it.
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U see, that's the bleedin' problem at the mo'. Everything is 'I heard' , no-one is able to supply us with proper, hard facts about what's going to happen. It's like supplying proper info to the public ( Telkom's clients!!! ) will result into a break in the Official Secrets Act.
 
Nope - it's the fact that Telkom have made about 25 changes to their ADSL offering from it's conception and they make new changes every month and you as a user have no recourse and if you sign a 24 month contract you will be STUCK with them for 24 months, no matter what they do.

There are no secrets - teklom just does exactly what suits them whenever they want.

Bring on the Servce Level Agreements you fskers [teklom].
 
stoke said:
Nope - it's the fact that Telkom have made about 25 changes to their ADSL offering from it's conception and they make new changes every month and you as a user have no recourse and if you sign a 24 month contract you will be STUCK with them for 24 months, no matter what they do.

There are no secrets - teklom just does exactly what suits them whenever they want.

Bring on the Servce Level Agreements you fskers [teklom].
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It's not that bad... if you want to get out of your contract, you pay an escape fee... It's a maximum of R1000 (the price of the router). But it's a lot less if you only have 6 or 7 months left on your contract.
 
Trent242 said:
Thanks for mentioning that carlhead. I didn't know that.
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It was the first thing I asked Telkom... I figured, why not... I would have to buy a router anyway... I'd take the risk, and if it got bad I would just pay for the router and go month to month. :D
 
Another reason is that you can get tied into paying say R400 a month over the 2 years, and when prices start coming down, you are locked into the R400. Thats what happened to me with Sentech. A friend was paying the same price as me, but he was on the 512kb package (paying monthly) and I was on a 2 year contract with 128kB. It just narrows down your options.
 
MrJones said:
Another reason is that you can get tied into paying say R400 a month over the 2 years, and when prices start coming down, you are locked into the R400. Thats what happened to me with Sentech. A friend was paying the same price as me, but he was on the 512kb package (paying monthly) and I was on a 2 year contract with 128kB. It just narrows down your options.
Click to expand...

When the prices came down my contractual price came down too... Telkom doesn't lock contractual prices and they are subject to price fluctuations.
 
I have had my contract for a while now, and I am actually quite happy with my cheap modem, thank you very much. Telkom's service was great, since I only live a few blocks from the Telkom Direct, I get to bug them a lot, meaning better service.

Not to mention that I ahve been having the same ip for about mone and a half month. Never changes.

AND I am being charged for 384 Kb/s when in fact I am getting 512 speeds. When I told the woman who worked at telkom, she said, She wont tell if I don't. So I quite like them. And considering the "rumours" about telkom stopping their capping thing. why have they not already done it? Are they going to start doing it on exact midnight of 31 Deember? I don't care if they do, actually. But I know that it wont last long.

And anyway, as their prices go down, so does mine. Their contract does not bind you to a specefic price, which is great. And you can escape the contract any time you want for 60 pm that is left of your contract, and by the time the SNO comes around, i will only have to pay about R60.

That of course is assuming the icasa bill does not go through. And if i does, there goes the R60.

I am not rooting for Telkom, mind. Merely stating my experience.
 
The money we're paying Telkom should be giving you the modem gratis like so many ISPs overseas do without a contract.

Don't obligate yourself to telkom any more than you have to.
 
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