Telecoms cost déjà vu

"Saying that we must not leave rural areas behind"...aaag tjaarsus, STOP moaning about "rural" areas. Rather fix the prices over the entire spectrum of pricing, speed and cap...and the rest will sort itself out in time. This whole "don't leave the empoverished behind" idea just speaks tons about the misconception these idiots in government have about what internet communications is all about. Please enlighten me as to how a rural empoverished person is going to use the internet (apart from maybe, education in poor schools)? Let alone have the capacity to buy computers, modems etc.

We really do live in a banana republic, these people are F#$ng clueless!!!!
 
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So raptor what your saying is people should get 20 meg lines with uncapped accounts and the government should ignore the rural areas?

I think you may possibly be the clueless one, not everyone in rural area's cannot afford a pc and a cheap internet connection but as it stands they would never be able to. A lot of people in rural areas could afford a pc and internet for lets say 200 bucks a month, just because they cannot afford 5k rent and a 3k car does not mean they should be left out.

Zuma came into power promising to help the people of this country and i for one hope that he does because honestly majority of us do not need 20 meg uncapped lines, we just need cheaper bandwidth and better quality so stuff like youtube and what not streams nicely, bring in 20 meg uncapped but keep the cheaper options open for the rural guys like 384 or even wireless.
 
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killadoob said:
bring in 20 meg uncapped but keep the cheaper options open for the rural guys like 384 or even wireless.
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Dude, that's what I'm saying, if you decrease prices on the top level it will inevitably filter down to the bottom, we are hugely dependant in wireless and there are Telkom lines in a lot of rural areas, so the infrastructure is not the main issue (but still an issue as always)....BUT it's more effective to start from the TOP level than from the bottom because supporting economic growth at a time of recession is much more important than giving some semi-educated rural douche-bag a cheap line to uncapped porn. And the short term benefits of lower prices/caps higher bandwidth etc. expresses itself much more effectively in the existing businesses etc. that use these services (helping them expand, creating jobs, immunizing against the recession etc.)...

Do 'ya get it? :rolleyes:


P.S. If you think for one second that there exists such a thing as "too much internet access/bandwidth" you are sorely mistaken dude. In fact, for every factor that limits you from being competitive on an international scale, you lose potential for that technology to drive maximum financial/economic/educational success.
"do not need 20 meg uncapped lines, we just need cheaper bandwidth and better quality so stuff like youtube and what not streams nicely" - And if we had MORE than enough, nothing prevents the local market from producing, say, a youtube competitor (the closest we've come to being competitive from a common communications perspective is with something like Mxit, which actually used the high cost and low bandwidth of our cellphone communications to its advantage)
 
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Sidebar: It took a few millennia for humanity to realise that you can't develop anything if, in the name of a misbegotten egalitarianism, you pace it to the lowest, slowest, poorest, and most undeveloped segment. Development trickles down; decay and backwardness trickle up. The former requires freedom; the latter destroys it. We seem to have forgotten that. Africa must shed its "cull the tall poppies" syndrome - it's holding everything back, especially the poor.
 
Arthur said:
Sidebar: It took a few millennia for humanity to realise that you can't develop anything if, in the name of a misbegotten egalitarianism, you pace it to the lowest, slowest, poorest, and most undeveloped segment. Development trickles down; decay and backwardness trickle up. The former requires freedom; the latter destroys it. We seem to have forgotten that. Africa must shed its "cull the tall poppies" syndrome - it's holding everything back, especially the poor.
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Arthur, thanks for that...It's EXACTLY what I've been trying to say from a holistic viewpoint. ;)
 
Arthur said:
Sidebar: It took a few millennia for humanity to realise that you can't develop anything if, in the name of a misbegotten egalitarianism, you pace it to the lowest, slowest, poorest, and most undeveloped segment. Development trickles down; decay and backwardness trickle up. The former requires freedom; the latter destroys it. We seem to have forgotten that. Africa must shed its "cull the tall poppies" syndrome - it's holding everything back, especially the poor.
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Nice post, besides the face that I had to google what egalitarianism means :P, you describe exactly what the current problem is with this country.
 
Well, I'm seeing a groundswell here and Seacom is the unstoppable wave. Things may just come to such a head that the lowering of prices is unavoidable. What we must keep up the pressure though. Keep writing to your ISP... and others besides. Even write to your local MP. Hang, write to whoever you can. Tell them we have had enough and it is time for industry to change.
 
Simple example: I'm an Asp .Net developer, but I haven't had internet at home for the past 4 years I've been living in Joburg, as all developers know by now, you simply cannot be competent without some form of internet access (and it goes beyond just "self-training", just getting updates etc. is impossible without online access). I don't have internet access because when I compare the value of +-R700pm against the fact that I'll be getting some lousy Telkom line (which is supposed to be the "best") with an unbelievable 3GB of data I just CANNOT justify it.
IF I had internet, I'd probably be much more confident in my skills by now, would have made more money (by simply moving up the ranks or finding a company that values my skills accordingly) and would inevitably have paid much more tax than I do now, tax that the government can use to help the poor get into middle class or improve education at least, so they can continue the cycle...
 
Garyvdh said:
Well, I'm seeing a groundswell here and Seacom is the unstoppable wave. Things may just come to such a head that the lowering of prices is unavoidable. What we must keep up the pressure though. Keep writing to your ISP... and others besides. Even write to your local MP. Hang, write to whoever you can. Tell them we have had enough and it is time for industry to change.
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+1 :cool: I'm happy about the reaction we got from mybroadband users on that "SEACOM price cuts will take time" article... Just shows that people are pi$$ed off and fed up, there will be no place to hide for ISP's from now on and they'd better start getting their heads straight.
 
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I sometimes wonder if the "optomists" choose to not see the reality of a situation, because admitting that a situation is so dire completely removes the possibility for hope. Call me a pecimist, or whatever, but in my opinion the chance that SA will get high speed, uncapped, unshaped and affordable to all internet access within the next few years is as likely as JZ creates 500 000 jobs by 2010, as he has proclaimed he will do.

Quite strange how many people believe what they are told without questioning it... oh wait, that is the South African way.
 
Gatecrasher said:
A local MP?!? You've been watching too much British TV. :p
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Why? I know my local MP on a first name basis. I have her phone number in my cell phone. I can call her up and she will get back to me within a few hours. Have you even tried to call your local member of parliament? Why not give it a try?
 
MFour said:
I sometimes wonder if the "optomists" choose to not see the reality of a situation, because admitting that a situation is so dire completely removes the possibility for hope. Call me a pecimist, or whatever, but in my opinion the chance that SA will get high speed, uncapped, unshaped and affordable to all internet access within the next few years is as likely as JZ creates 500 000 jobs by 2010, as he has proclaimed he will do.

Quite strange how many people believe what they are told without questioning it... oh wait, that is the South African way.
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Because up until now we have only had one undersea cable. Seacom coming in is a watershed moment. Besides... even the prices trickle down... they will go down (or the speeds and the caps will go up - I'm happy with that too).
 
Garyvdh said:
Why? I know my local MP on a first name basis. I have her phone number in my cell phone. I can call her up and she will get back to me within a few hours. Have you even tried to call your local member of parliament? Why not give it a try?
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Didn't know that. We use a party list system in SA, so I certainly haven't voted for any individuals except at ward level. If MP's are assigned to specific constituencies, how can I find out which is mine?
 
Gatecrasher said:
Didn't know that. We use a party list system in SA, so I certainly haven't voted for any individuals except at ward level. If MP's are assigned to specific constituencies, how can I find out which is mine?
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Sorry, that's what I meant... your ward councilors. They will petition the MPs.
 
We have problems with ALL areas, just lower the damn price, then we will all benefit.

Stop talking about rural / urban, if I can get a unlimited 20Meg ADSL for R1000 a month, I will go to a small town somewhere out there and setup a wireless tower with pleasure, and charge people there R150 per month, I just need 7 customers to break even and their speed will be so decent. and fit 20 of them on one tower will still mean 1 meg per client.

The problem is with all the regulation, pls tell me why a wisp need special licenses when anyone can use the 2.4ghz band as long as its not for profit??? so excuse me then, its about government wanting money, which its double charging since whatever the wisp is earning it has to pay tax.

And the same goes to all these ECNS and VANS and blah blah. down with managed liberalization. Its just crap!!
 
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