Telkom getting it from all sides
One of the first ‘organizations’ to put the consumer on the board in the telecoms arena was MyADSL. The community website was established to deal with telecoms issues by acting as a conduit for consumers to meet and share ideas.
It was formed in 2003 when ADSL was the only broadband connection available to residential consumers.
At the time the performance of Telkom’s DSL512 service was more reminiscent of a dial up connection, and the complaints regarding price, service restrictions and poor performance gave rise to an ICASA complaint which culminated in the recently released ICASA regulations.
MyADSL is however only one example of consumer activism in the local telecoms environment. Maybe the most famous anti-Telkom website and campaign was launched by Hellkom . This website was started by Gregg Stirton, a graphic artist and website designer from Cape Town.
Stirton had to face a multi-million rand law suit by Telkom along the way, but he stuck to his guns and Telkom finally withdrew the case with costs. It is noteworthy to mention that Stirton was represented free of charge by Michalson Attorneys which gives an indication of the support for activism against Telkom.
Gaining momentum
The buck did not stop here and other similar movements blossomed. Another organization called Antitrust was formed with the specific aim of fighting Telkom and informing the public about, what they call, ‘the moral crime being committed’.
“Antitrust.co.za was set up by a group of people, who, like you, have just had enough. Our members consist of lawyers, doctors, students, company CEO’s and others, who have been smart enough to see that Telkom’s monopolization of the market is having a crippling effect on South African business and the man in the street,” the Antitrust website says.
There are also many more recent examples of people who have had enough of the high prices and poor service levels dished out by Telkom.
The Telecoms Action Group was recently founded with the aim of ‘telling the world’ about the poor state of telecoms in South Africa. This campaign plans to take out a full page advertisement in a national newspaper, informing people about the dismal state of telecoms in South Africa.
“Despite the occasional negative editorial Telkom receives from journalists, the media is pounded by misleading advertising on a daily basis by our only telecoms company. It’s time to fight back with our own full page advert voicing our dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs,” the TAG website states.
And then there are many examples of individuals taking a less formal approach to their frustration with Telkom’s poor service delivery.
A recent Tectonic article described ‘Telkombuster extraordinaire’ Judy Grant who can be seen as a ‘self-employed consultant whose mission it is to help consumers bring Telkom to heel’.
And then there is the case of Dr. C H Stuart from Gauteng who solved his Telkom woes by taking out an advertisement in the Beeld, a prominent South African newspaper. His problems were promptly solved after the advertisement was published.
The question that must however be asked is why a telecoms consultant is needed or such drastic measures as flighting an advertisement in a national newspaper to get Telkom to respond to customer needs.
The answer to this question is most likely that Telkom has for so long enjoyed the status of a legally protected monopoly that this poor service was good enough. You could, after all, not take your business elsewhere.
With Neotel’s launch and municipalities and ISPs becoming more competitive in the telecoms environment it is not surprising that Telkom’s CEO, Papi Molotsane, is preaching customer centricity.
Molotsane has promised South Africa that he will transform Telkom into a truly customer centric company which will be a delight to deal with.
With many consumers viewing Telkom as being equal or worse now than what it was one year ago, a lot of work is needed to convince customers that a new customer orientated Telkom is rising from the ashes of the once monopolistic giant.
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