ADSL Broadband: Telkom in hot water regarding voice / ADSL line bundling

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa), 8 August 2011

According to ISPA, Telkom may be violating the new consumer act. This applies to the company's practice of bundling a compulsory voice service with the ADSL data service. Ant Brooks, General Manager of the Internet Service Provider's Association (ISPA), expressed this concern recently. Brooks went onto point out the section 13(1) of the new CPA (Consumer Protection Act) forbids the bundling of products that forces consumers to sign contracts for services that they do not really require.

According to the Act, operating business in this way restricts consumers from buying products or services from their choice of service provider. Service providers can only bundle services if they show that it makes financial sense to do so. The onus is on the service provider to show that this is the case. The benefits of bundling services must be more than any potential drawback that might be present in the case of bundling.

While it is possible to buy voice data without buying ADSL, the reverse is not true. Consumers have to pay for a Telkom phone line in order to have access to ADSL. Strictly speaking, some people may only want ADSL and not necessarily a phone line for voice data purposes. Consumers may wish to use Voice over Internet Protocol for the purposes of voice data and this is done via the Internet and not via a standard Telkom phone line.

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