ADSL Broadband: Telkom pockets almost 90%

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa), 30 January 2012

A great deal of thanks should go towards Web Africa’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Rupert Bryant, for his recent exposure of how Telkom is getting almost 90% of the fees paid towards ADSL services in South Africa.

Yes, we can comfortably continue to place the blame for the high cost of ADSL services in South Africa at Telkom’s door, because they control almost 90% of the cost to us Average Joes when it comes to ADSL services in South Africa. In fact, they control 89.5% of the total cost to the consumer. It is especially the cost of ADSL line rental and the compulsory phone rental from Telkom that are pushing up the cost of ADSL services in South Africa. Bryant suggests that the “…Telkom monopoly needs to be broken, the regulators and government need to get it together and either put some legislation down, or break up Telkom into separate wholesale and retail companies” (The truth about ADSL costs in SA, MyBroadband, Rudolph Muller, 22 January 2012). We absolutely agree with Bryant, although it is highly unlikely that any of it will happen soon, especially considering that the SA Government still has an almost 40% stake in the Telkom pie. Thus, it would be more than fair to blame both Telkom and the SA Government for the high cost of ADSL services in South Africa. As Knormoer commented: “The Telkom fat cats should be charged with high treason. They caused damage amounting to billions to our economy, lost us hundreds of thousands of jobs and placed us in a position from where it is extremely difficult to become competitive again” (The truth about ADSL costs in SA, MyBroadband, Rudolph Muller, 22 January 2012). In fact, the SA Government should be held accountable for the state of affairs, since the ultimate authority to make ADSL services cheaper in South Africa is vested in them.

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa) deplores the way both Telkom and the SA Government (world government for that matter) are out to screw us over. It is something that has to stop.