I am getting distinctly pissed off with the services that South African residents receive. My latest gripe is the Cost vs. Service that you receive for internet and cell phone usage. It really is a joke. It’s just not very funny.
Ok I will agree that South Africa mobile / cell phone technology is of world standards or better but I’m afraid it all gets let down with the service that is provided. God it does my head in.
(Click for more bitching)
I have a Vodafone (Vodacom) mobile modem that I hook up to my laptop for internet connectivity by using Vodacom data bundles. It is supposed to be capable of HSDPA but I have never gotten a connection better than 3G and even then it is ridiculously slow. Put the speed of service aside for a minute and think about the costs. Fucking ludicrous. R88 for 75MB up to R1989 for 10GB. And there’s a bigger catch. They all expire within 30 days. So in order to save money you have to buy huge bundles but then use them up fast and then buy another huge bundle. You are getting screwed again and again. I had a 500MB bundle and then I got a message stating that it expired and I have forfeited 135MB. I’m sorry I was away in Thailand and never paid for roaming it seems.
I know I am quoting mobile technology but looking around, I see that landline rates are not a hell of a lot better. You see the big specials of R89 per month for ADSL connections. Check the fine print “** Based on a 128K connection with a 1GB cap limit and excludes landline rental”. What is this capped limit bullshit? The internet is virtual. You are not buying anything physical, you are buying positive and negatives, on and offs, lights and darks, IT’S DIGITAL so why put a cap on it. Besides at 128K how much do they possibly think you can download???
I feel an international comparison is valid here. In the UK I had unlimited, UNCAPPED 8MBPS (16X faster than your average 512KBPS connection here) internet access for £39 (R585) and what’s more, that included line rental and all local and national calls were FREE. We basically paid our £39 and never got a phone bill but could very well have hosted an internet cafe. The rates in the rest of Europe and the USA are pretty similar.
I already hear some of the over-patriotic-accepting-complacent-led-by-the-nose South Africans mumbling, “Well then go back to the UK if you think it’s so much better there” but that isn’t going to help the situation here now is it? Wake up and realise that your are being screwed!
The problem is with the infrastructure. It is still sole owned. 1 single service provider. In the rest of the world it is called a monopoly and unfair trading conditions. Ask Bill Gates when he was getting whipped by the courts just because his marketing and development teams were better than Netscape. This country is getting shafted by it’s own people and we sit around and accept it while they get super rich and greater the divide between the wealthy and the average. What is Telkom paying some fat government official to keep the monopoly in power and fuck the consumer? Mobile, landline, whatever, no matter what, it all goes over Telkom copper cabling (even mobile towers connect to this infamous grid). One call I made that I checked up on came to R28 for 6 minutes. Are they smoking pot or are we as the consumer for just accepting this?
Mobile technology on the surface seems as though it’s not a monopoly since there are multiple service providers. Are there really? They all load share across towers but try calling “cross-network” and see how that hits your account. It seems providers like Virgin Mobile don’t even have their own infrastructure but instead blatantly piggy back off all the others. You can test this theory by simply buying a Virgin SIM card and check what signal your phone connects to. The last time I had a Virgin card my calls kept dropping as it force changed providers from MTN to Vodacom to Cell-C. And then take a look at the prices and how similar they are. They try to make themselves look different by offering different packages for different prices but it’s also for different amounts that you receive. However you look at it, it’s all price watching that going on and thus removing ANY notion of competition and hence fucking the consumer again!
Now even at these ridiculous over-inflated costs, the service is indirectly proportional. Try make a call. The amount of times I dial a number and get the irritating “beep beep beep” and have to redial about 3 or 4 times before it connects just drives me bananas. Since I have only just returned I and been asking people that I have been with if it’s just me and if there’s something wrong with my phone only to be told, “Oh relax man, that’s normal these days”. Complacency. Getting used to and accepting the shit will just keep the shit getting worse. The fucked up apartheid South Africa never changed by having 30 million disadvantaged black individuals sitting on their asses and moaning but accepting the regime.
Even now I am trying to upload credit so that I can even use this shit service and only to get the message on my phone, “The service is temporarily unavailable. Try again later”. The prosecution rests for now. But wait, this is the first in a series of shit rants that are on the way about this place. God it’s good to be home!
Welcome in Africa HooX’ie.
It sucks paying so much to get on the net - if you figure out who we have to clobber with a phone or stab with a pen to fix this let me know.
Chris,
Chillllllll. Try to remember the dark places and how bad things were there. All you’re going to end up with is a heart attack (and you’re far too nice a chap for that). IT and phones in Egypt suck. Likewise Kazakhstan, but I muddle through life without risk of a coronary. I may not be the ideal role model, but you could do worse than take a lead from me on stress management (even though I only copied it from the Egyptians).
On a totally different topic, I’ve managed to land somewhere that allows me access to your blog. So I’ve spent a fair amount of time catching up and resisted the temptation to write loads of replies.
The holiday sounded as though it was great a credit to you for getting so much out of your visit. To my shame, I’m afraid that I wouldn’t have achieved half of what you did. To my further shame, I’m fairly sure that my achievents wouldn’t have been fit to print.
Quick update on what I’ve been up to……….
24th June, 2008 left El Gouna, Egypt
25th June, 2008 arrived at new project Uralsk, Kazakhstan
9th July, 2008 leaving new project Uralsk, Kazakhstan
14th July, 2008 leaving El Gouna, Egypt (again)
14th July, 2013 (approx) leaving Jakarta, Indonesia after a very pleasant stay.
15th July, 2013 (approx) leaving the labour market for good.
16th July, 2013 (approx) just keeping an eye open for an interesting job
Regards
Willie G
Hey Hoox
Telkom is a monopolist and the major reason we pay so much is their control of the SAT3 undersea cable that our internet travels on.
That said, some differences between us and the UK/US:
The greater the percentage of traffic to and from overseas destination, the more our fees need to pick that up. The US and UK have a far greater percentage of traffic to the global megasites in their own back yard, we are surfing international infrastructure. In the US/UK, local backbones can be carried relatively cheaply on microwave and the US/UK fibre optic glut. In South Africa, the only option for our international traffic is undersea cable (satellite latency is not suitable for most internet browsing). We also did not have the overinvestment in fibre that characterises the UK and US (they have so much excess from the dot com explosion that much is unlit).
Capping is just a different way of covering the cost of the pipe. Capping is actually more equitable in my opinion. Without a cap, the more traffic, the greater the infrastructure need and the greater the cost. If you study the behaviour of surfers a very small percentage hog bandwidth. But they go crazy using bittorrent software downloading DVDs etc. Most of the content is overseas. So there you have a small group who on an uncapped basis either create the need for a massive pipe for which the cost is averaged over all users, or they clog the pipe and everybody has a miserable experience speed-wise (no matter how big their connection). Clearly the bigger the market the better the average can bare the hogs.
I’m no Africa apologist. Telkom is a monopoly and could do with competition.Our cell phone players are complacent and their service is often horrific AND expensive. Thankfully, I have had no issues with Vodacom Service Provider. But still expensive.
ooooo i do love a good bots… good points each side!!
ROUND 2?
Lou - Thanks sweets. I think I am going to save my energy for more worthwhile battles but I appreciate the support!
WG - I know what you are saying bud but there is a distinct line between chilling and not getting too worked up and taking things too personally and lying back and having the corporations screw you. This world is all about how we can screw our fellow inhabitants. Your travels sound awesome but then again they always do. Some day you can tell me how and why Kaz didnt work out. Your acheivements are always welcome. no-one here really knows you and the only one that does , ie me, already knows your acheivements so you can’t offed me! hahha. Take care mate!
IITQ - You strike with a very good arguement! I can’t really argue with any of that. Thanks for clearing that up. I still however feel that it’s hugely overpriced but that just may be that I don’t completely understand the financing aspects of international links. I did however hear a compelling story a while ago but I cannot find any facts to back this up and perhaps you can set my mind at ease about this too. I heard that the organisation that was directly responsible for the laying of international ocean-bed fiber cables approached “South Africa” (ie Telkom) and offered them a connection and sustained infrastructure for free with the only condition that they retain control of it. Telkom, fearing the loss of control of international communications turned this organisation’s offer down and we are now left to suffer on older technology which is what is hindering us dramatically. If this is true then a this is another great arguement as to how the Telkom Fat Cat in-bed-with-the-government monopoly is screwing us! I could be wrong though. Thanks for the input.
KT - I am preparing my white flag of surrender. There will be no round 2. IITQ has a sound arguement and just because I am still pissed at the shit service and it’s rediculous costs, doesn’t make him wrong.
Chris,
Easy one that. Kz didn’t work because I had only just arrived when I got the call to mobilise to Jakarta. Let’s think about this now……..
More money - (27.27%) increase in day rate
More time - 5 years vs 8 weeks and a maybe
Climate - Indonesian winter vs Kazakh winter (22DegC vs -40DegC)
Would anyone choose differently!
Of course, there’s an open invitation to come explore my part of the world. I know you missed out on Egypt, surely my new place is worth a visit.
Anyway, I wasn’t suggesting you lie down and pay money like some downtrodden beeeeitch. All I was saying was (to quote Bart) “Don’t have a cow man!”.
Look after yourself.
WG
PS A tip for any traveller. Uralsk, Kazakhstan has possibly the highest quota of absolutely beautiful women. There’s more lovely girls per square metre than anywher I have visited before. Apologies to the previous record holder (Seville).
Gee, a good time to fully appreciate living in good ol’ Europe. Here in Germany both phone and internet services are ridiculously cheap. A combined phone (land line only, land line to cell is a different story) and internet (16mbit, not traffic limits whatsover) flat rate is never any more than 50eur here with all the major providers. Actually 50eur is considered kinda expensive. And the service is pretty good as well. That is if you’re cool with “navigating” through weird answering machine “menus” for a while before you actually get to talk to a person.
Hey Hoox
I believe it was ICASA that turned down the undersea cable. Not sure what the terms were, but there was a huge outcry.
We should be encouraging all the international bandwidth possible to enable offshore services and the ICT sector.
IITQ
WG - Thanks for the heads up pal. And basd on your subject matter it truely IS heads up! Nice going on the work front mate.
s_20 - Yeah thats exactly what I was saying. It’s not like SA doesnt have the infrastructure, it’s just being exploited by the monopolies!
IITQ - Thanks for that. I wasn’t aware who this ICASA was so I did a couple of searches. Here’s a few interesting results: Threathening to block services that are FREE - http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=&fArticleId=4226272; Another one showing the Telkom bullies being allowed to carry on with the support of the ICASA complaints commission. How can the little guy fight if the big guys have the regulators in their pockets?: http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/1774.html
And, what started the bitching sesssion in the first place, here it is, exactly as IITQ stated: ICASA rejects free undersea cables unless the monopoly can control it!: http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/1273.html
QUOTING: “Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has confirmed that no undersea cables will be allowed to land in SA and provide cheaper broadband unless they are majority owned by local investors.”
Enough said! Thanks IITQ