ICASA put to the test

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa), 7 August 2007

ICASA’s Complaints and Compliance Committee (CCC), a new ICASA structure, is in the process of setting up a hearing where Telkom will have to defend their position in regard to the company’s non-compliance with ADSL regulations.

This comes after a flood of consumer complaints because of Telkom’s ‘…persistent non-compliance…’ with ADSL regulations that were released by ICASA almost a year ago on the 17th of August. ‘Despite the regulations coming into effect nearly a year ago, not much has changed in the ADSL arena. Local bandwidth is still capped, most ADSL users are still subjected to shaped traffic, there are periodic resets and no ADSL SLAs are in place’ (Telkom soon in hot seat regarding ADSL Regulations, 1 August 2007).

In other words, Telkom is clearly making a ‘…mockery of the regulations, playing ICASA for a fool without much regard for their authority in the telecoms space’ (Telkom soon in hot seat regarding ADSL Regulations, 1 August 2007).

Can you give us more specifics on the ADSL regulations?

Yes.

The ADSL regulations call among other things for:

• ADSL Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

• Uncapped local bandwidth.

• No traffic shaping or periodic resets.

• Minimum installation times.

• Guaranteed minimum speeds.

In other words, the ADSL regulations require more than half-hearted commitments.

Telkom’s reaction in regard to compliance to ADSL regulations has so far being characterized by a string of broken promises. In all honesty not that one expected anything more coming from Telkom’s side but one was expecting to see at least some decency starting to filter through. Despite Telkom’s obvious failure to stick to deadlines set by them earlier, Telkom spokesperson Lulu Letlape said that ‘…Telkom is still on track to be in fully compliant with the regulations by the end of November 2007’ (Telkom soon in hot seat regarding ADSL Regulations, 1 August 2007).

In other words, don’t expect much truth coming from Telkom’s side while a bunch of lying maggots are running the show.

One point must be stressed: We’re sure, like us, the average Joe doesn’t expect miracles coming from Telkom’s side, all he/she expects is old-fashioned honesty. If you can’t deliver because of valid reasons, please tell us that and don’t make promises you can’t keep. How can decency exist without honesty? It’s only possible when people are intellectually dishonest, lying to themselves and to others. It’s only possible when a false standard of decency is set up and maintained by a bunch of liars. The truth is that decency cannot exist without honesty.

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