Cybersurf

Hello and good morning – this is Cybersurf, your favorite weekly update on internet matters and I am Steven Lang, your friendly Cyberhost.

Last week ICASA, the telecommunications regulator, began hearings into Telkom’s pricing structure for broadband, or ADSL. The ADSL service is simply, a quicker way of getting on to the Internet – it also provides much greater bandwidth so you can download more megabytes than a normal dial-up phone line.

Rudolph Muller of Myadsl, sums up the complaint against Telkom:

RCOST
IN: The ADSL service in South Africa . . . .
OUT: . . . . there’s no real excuse. DUR: 0’25”

Telkom claims to have more than sixty thousand ADSL clients – a farily significant number, but still quite small compared to the population as a whole. Why then are these hearings so important?

Well known economist, Nico Czypionka, believes that the future economy of this country is dependent on the success or failure of broadband:

NICORETARD
IN: “I think the Telkom . . . .
OUT: . . . . have actively fostered.” DUR:0’16”

Steven White of Telkom is adamant that the telecommunications giant is not over pricing its services. He also refutes allegations that consumers are being made to pay twice for the same line – once for phone lines and once for ADSL:

SWCOST
IN: “ Clearly no, the line rental . . . .
OUT: . . . . . provide a quality service. DUR: 0’30”

At the hearings, White said that according to a Markinor survery, more than 80% of customers are in fact quite happy with TELKOM’s ADSL service. Rudolph Muller is skeptical about these claims:

RSURVEY
IN: ”We challenged that survey . . ..
OUT: . . . . he has not done that.” DUR: 0’19

During the course of the ICASA hearings, Telkom’s ADSL service was frequently compared to similar services in other countries. Telkom rejected these comparisons saying that each country has its own unique set of circumstances.

Councillor Mamodupi Mohlala, the ICASA chairperson at the hearings, believes that there is value in making such comparisons.

MOHLALA
IN: During the course of the hearings . . . .
OUT: . . . . need to take these into account.” DUR: 0’29”

That was ICASA’s Mamodupi Mohlala, who is chairing the hearings which close later today. If you are interested in the future of broadband in this country, go along to the ICASA headquarters as soon as possible. The hearings are open to the public, and I believe that fireworks are on the menu for today.

With that, we close today’s edition of Cybersurf – thanks for listening and remember to keeeeep on surfing . . . . .