You claim South Africa have one of the most expensive broadband landscapes. While this might be true for fixed line, I would like to see your extensive analysis of international HSDPA prices compared to South Africa.

You claim that “Vast swathes of the country have no effective network”. Again I would like to see how you compare this to your beloved USA. Today both MTN and Vodacom cover 98% of the population with at least some form of data communication.

What is the number for the US?

So you had a bad experience with a specific operator. By all means complain, it’s your right.

But get your facts right.

What we will realistically see is something along the lines of Beacon Sweets offering 10% more chocolate rather than a 10% reduction in price.

Over time we will see bandwidth caps and speeds increase for the same price. Telkom started that this month with 3Gb to 5Gb for the same price. Strange that MWeb, who buy bandwidth from Telkom haven’t followed suit.

Until we fix up the situation where the DoC, ICASA and the Competition Commission shout “Your Ball” and pass issues between them without resolution the basic situation of horribly overpriced services will remain.

In the other suggestion that we all abstain from using the service for five days. No Chance. If I had no cellphone or Internet access for 5 days my business would go down the toilet.

Cheers,
Iain

But it took Al five days to identify that some part (probably the company brain cell) had overshot its data limit and can only be replaced this coming week sometime. Wow, stunning service levels & technology, hey!

Now I have to drive back & forth to Clearwater, hunker down at the agonising Mugg&Bean, pay exorbitant prices for their so-so “coffee” not to mention parking fees and the rest of the inconvenience – just to connect.

This is called client service. I call it crap and it gets me very irritated because it is criminal!!

It’s easy to see who is responsible, but hard to make them change. The blame rests squarely with ICASA and the Government. Like it or not, our society is organised in a way that encourages (=requires?) corporations to maximise profits – the regulators are there to keep them in check and ensure a balance between corporate and public interests. ICASA has failed the South African people over and over again. Senegal is an example where the Government has decided to provide broad, affordable coverage and as a result, Internet Cafe’s in Dakar offer faster connection speeds at lower costs than I can get at my home in SA.

I am hoping that small wireless providers will by-pass the mess of the past, procure their bandwidth from SEACOM, and pass the savings on to their customers directly. But, as a disappointed previous customer of iBust, I am not holding my breath.

You have to stand still to get a good signal here in MP. Told Vodacom abt it and they are yet to improve reception. These speeds upwards of 1,3MBts/sec that should come with an HSDPA modem are a fairytale here.

MTN is no betá though, we had no coverage for 2days in Secunda, Middleburg & parts of Pretoria this week without explanation. Even their internet bundle contract costs the same as Vodacom, i wonder why coz their reception is even poorer.

These communication cartel’s prices are like cholesterol on the veins of S.A. information access & Communication

As to how much of our salaries we spend on Telkom, MTN & Vodacom product costs is criminal, whilst the quality of their service is quite primitive still – it just shows they are throttling everybody-up for their bottom-line stakes.