Telkom gives its views on ADSL Regulations
Pricing structure
In an email sent to some consumers trying to gain clarity as to how Telkom will respond to the regulations, Telkom said that they are already complying with the regulation pertaining to price.
The ICASA ADSL Regulations states that, “The structure of an ADSL tariff shall comprise of an installation and bringing into service charge, a monthly rental for provisioning and maintenance of ADSL lines and a bandwidth charge.”
Telkom replied: “The monthly rental for the provision of ADSL services is something different to the monthly rental for a normal telephone line, the latter being required before the ADSL service can be provided. Please note that the monthly rental for your telephone line is not included in the ADSL tariff.”
“Also, please be advised that all of Telkom’s tariffs (including the telephone line rental and the monthly rental for the provision of ADSL services) have been filed with and approved by ICASA. With regards to your comment on the bandwidth charge, Telkom agrees that the bandwidth charge will continue to be charged by your ISP,” Telkom continued.
In another email Telkom said, “The rental and installation charges for an exchange connection are for the PSTN portion of the network that makes normal voice telephony possible. You will therefore be charged for an exchange connection as well as for ADSL which is in line with point 9 of the regulation.”
Uncapped local bandwidth
When it comes to uncapped local bandwidth Telkom places the responsibility at the door of ISPs. The ADSL Regulations state that, “Local bandwidth usage shall not be subject to the cap.”
“ISPs, including TelkomInternet, obviously need to comply with the Regulation in this regard. Please note that Telkom, as a wholesale provider of Internet connectivity to ISPs does not cap customers as this is a functionally of the ISPs. Accordingly, we suggest that you take this matter up with your ISP,” Telkom said.
No ADSL resets
Static IP addresses and periodic resets of the ADSL service are two other issues which users wanted to gain clarity on.
The Regulations specifies that “Any reset required for the service maintenance shall be done with a prior notification of at least seven (7) days to the subscribers and by notification on the website.”
Telkom again laid some of the responsibility at the door of ISPs. “Telkom would like to point out that it does not ‘reset’ its ADSL access services, but rather that it is the ISP portion of an internet access offering which is ‘reset’,” Telkom said.
Telkom did however say that they will try to address the issue with ICASA as periodic resets are needed for accounting purposes.
“…the SAIX service necessitates periodic resets of Internet services (which are in this instance rendered to ISPs) for accounting purposes as real time accounting is currently not available. Telkom, in collaboration with ISPs, is investigating how to align themselves with this aspect of the Regulations as soon as possible and this will also be discussed with the regulator,” Telkom said.
Traffic shaping
When it comes to traffic shaping and port prioritization an email received by a subscriber suggests that Telkom again indicated that they are already in full compliance with the regulations.
“Telkom is in full compliance with this regulation as SAIX and TelkomInternet offer both prioritized and unprioritised services to their customers, i.e. it is not imposed on customers as they have a choice between the two services,” the email said.
ISPs in the firing line
Many users and ISPs were waiting for Telkom to take the lead regarding the implementation of the regulations. It appears as if most of the requirements made in the regulations will fall at the door of ISPs.
It will however be virtually impossible for ISPs to implement the regulations without Telkom changing its current ADSL wholesale model.
The lack of clarity from ICASA regarding the ADSL Regulations is another stumbling block for all stakeholders. Without a clear indication from ICASA as to what the intention is with every regulation it is so open to interpretation that nothing much is likely to change in the provisioning of ADSL.
Nobody at ICASA could be reached for comment.
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