pmbellis
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- Jun 7, 2006
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I refer to: http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/8810.html
I like the "our own fault" and "we have been unable" ...
1.) "We" to the general reader of this board, are consumers of Broadband services.
2.) "We" to the writer of the article seems to be South Africa as a whole.
Points to remember:
A.) South Africa (as a whole) cares not a penny for Broadband ... they are more worried about the price of bread and milk and taxi fares.
B.) The government of the country is not voted in by us (Broadband users), but by South Africa (as a whole).
Ergo, the government will never be concerned about our vote, or our issues, neither will any body chosen by the government, nor any companies whos profits depend upon government goodwill.
Practically every time there is an article on this board, there are immediately large numbers of members who react by saying “they should …” and decry the attitude and actions of the state and state-controlled bodies (in this I include so-called “watchdog” bodies & parastatals). It is time that we (SA broadband users) start realizing that there are certain things which do not work, or, at best, have VERY limited impact. Things like:
i.) Whining about the situation
Personally, I am hoping for drastically reduced prices with SEACOM coming online, but I’m not really expecting it, business models in South Africa being what they are.
What CAN we do?
Well, for one, as a pure consumer, switch to a better deal THE MOMENT it is offered AND, tell the ISP you are leaving WHY. This is the ONLY incentive/threat that works on businesses. If we all jumped ship the moment the competitor offered .005% less, then they WOULD compete on price. However, when someone does drop by 1% or 2 %, the reaction here is “so what, when are we going to see really good prices?”
But, here’s a second (very rough, very off-the-cuff) idea … it’ll need a lot of work from tech/business and legal savvy people here to make it work.
Let US (myBroadband members) form an ISP (proper company, properly set up), with the initial charter being something along these lines:
Now, if you are REALLY concerned/cared about our broadband situation here in SA, then you can react in 2 possible ways:
1.) Give an alternative, practical, implementable (by US) suggestion
2.) Give constructive criticism of the above idea. If you see a problem, point it out & provide a solution, or a pointer to a solution
If you just say “it won’t work”, without giving a constructive reason why, then you earn the right to be ignored.
A practical issue from a consumer's point fo view, is that if 3.) and 4.) above are strictly adhered to, prices will fluctuate quite a bit. But they should always ON AVERAGE remain way below the rest of the industry.
I challenge you ... put up, or shut up.
Now, I hereby, publically, COMMIT that I will, legally, on paper, bind myself to contribute R250-00 / month for the capital/initial running costs of the company for a period of 2 years. If we ALL commit to what we can, how much financial leverage can such a start up achieve?
I like the "our own fault" and "we have been unable" ...
1.) "We" to the general reader of this board, are consumers of Broadband services.
2.) "We" to the writer of the article seems to be South Africa as a whole.
Points to remember:
A.) South Africa (as a whole) cares not a penny for Broadband ... they are more worried about the price of bread and milk and taxi fares.
B.) The government of the country is not voted in by us (Broadband users), but by South Africa (as a whole).
Ergo, the government will never be concerned about our vote, or our issues, neither will any body chosen by the government, nor any companies whos profits depend upon government goodwill.
Practically every time there is an article on this board, there are immediately large numbers of members who react by saying “they should …” and decry the attitude and actions of the state and state-controlled bodies (in this I include so-called “watchdog” bodies & parastatals). It is time that we (SA broadband users) start realizing that there are certain things which do not work, or, at best, have VERY limited impact. Things like:
i.) Whining about the situation
- No, I do NOT think we should take shoddy service & daylight robbery lying down, all I’m saying, is that so far, “consumer action” has had so little impact as to be imperceptible.
- Yes, we should still complain, and complain loudly, often and ferociously. BUT we must do it where it hurts … in the “OPEN” arena. When you complain here, then ALSO: send an e-mail to Parliament, leave a voicemail on Zuma’s landline, call up your local MP, write a letter to your LOCAL newspaper, post it on your NON-Broadband SIGs, etc, etc, etc. Here you’re just preaching to the choir.
ii.) Demanding lower prices from ISP, etc. They will react only as it fits their business model, not as a result of your “demand”- Yes, we should still complain, and complain loudly, often and ferociously. BUT we must do it where it hurts … in the “OPEN” arena. When you complain here, then ALSO: send an e-mail to Parliament, leave a voicemail on Zuma’s landline, call up your local MP, write a letter to your LOCAL newspaper, post it on your NON-Broadband SIGs, etc, etc, etc. Here you’re just preaching to the choir.
Personally, I am hoping for drastically reduced prices with SEACOM coming online, but I’m not really expecting it, business models in South Africa being what they are.
What CAN we do?
Well, for one, as a pure consumer, switch to a better deal THE MOMENT it is offered AND, tell the ISP you are leaving WHY. This is the ONLY incentive/threat that works on businesses. If we all jumped ship the moment the competitor offered .005% less, then they WOULD compete on price. However, when someone does drop by 1% or 2 %, the reaction here is “so what, when are we going to see really good prices?”
But, here’s a second (very rough, very off-the-cuff) idea … it’ll need a lot of work from tech/business and legal savvy people here to make it work.
Let US (myBroadband members) form an ISP (proper company, properly set up), with the initial charter being something along these lines:
1.) We will ALWAYS source our bandwidth from the cheapest source available, and will never sign any lock-in contracts.
2.) We will ALWAYS publish (on this site) exactly what all the input costs to the company are (Capital, Running, Bandwith, etc)
3.) We will ALWAYS cost our resale price at “Cost-Plus” (Business savvy people to determine the Plus factor)
4.) We will ALWAYS sell our bandwidth at a flat rate (i.e. if you use 100Mb, or 1000Gb, it will cost you the same per Gb or Mb/s if you want uncapped)
5.) We will ALWAYS give HOME consumers preferential treatment over BUSINESS
6.) Have the company OWNED by all it’s users (Like a Building Society, or an Agricultural Co-Op) …
7.) Have the company DIRECTED by industry savvy experts (rpm, dom, etc … people who’ve already proven they care & are competent)
2.) We will ALWAYS publish (on this site) exactly what all the input costs to the company are (Capital, Running, Bandwith, etc)
3.) We will ALWAYS cost our resale price at “Cost-Plus” (Business savvy people to determine the Plus factor)
4.) We will ALWAYS sell our bandwidth at a flat rate (i.e. if you use 100Mb, or 1000Gb, it will cost you the same per Gb or Mb/s if you want uncapped)
5.) We will ALWAYS give HOME consumers preferential treatment over BUSINESS
6.) Have the company OWNED by all it’s users (Like a Building Society, or an Agricultural Co-Op) …
7.) Have the company DIRECTED by industry savvy experts (rpm, dom, etc … people who’ve already proven they care & are competent)
Now, if you are REALLY concerned/cared about our broadband situation here in SA, then you can react in 2 possible ways:
1.) Give an alternative, practical, implementable (by US) suggestion
2.) Give constructive criticism of the above idea. If you see a problem, point it out & provide a solution, or a pointer to a solution
If you just say “it won’t work”, without giving a constructive reason why, then you earn the right to be ignored.
A practical issue from a consumer's point fo view, is that if 3.) and 4.) above are strictly adhered to, prices will fluctuate quite a bit. But they should always ON AVERAGE remain way below the rest of the industry.
I challenge you ... put up, or shut up.
Now, I hereby, publically, COMMIT that I will, legally, on paper, bind myself to contribute R250-00 / month for the capital/initial running costs of the company for a period of 2 years. If we ALL commit to what we can, how much financial leverage can such a start up achieve?
