No service, no payment

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa), 26 February 2007

Landline users in many rural areas has been taken for a ride by Telkom for far too long when it comes to the idea of ‘no service, no payment’. Late in the day and partial reimbursements are simply not enough.

It’s no secret that the number of fixed lines in South Africa has been falling for some time now. Cable theft as well as a lack of proper maintenance can be seen as the primary reasons for this. While Telkom is not to be blamed for cable theft, one can blame them in instances where a lack of maintenance led to the deterioration of landline phone services. Many of the users in those areas have paid for or are still paying for services that are almost non-existent or haven’t improved at all.
 
Has Telkom fully reimbursed them?
 
No. The sad thing is that Telkom is still more than happy to collect payments.
 
Although Telkom recently started to partially reimburse some loyal users after receiving hundreds of complaints over the past months and years, it’s simply not enough. Referred to as loyal users because they didn’t give up on Telkom like many others. Their ‘loyalty’ is however not based on an inherent love for Telkom, but rather on the fact that they had, and still have, no other choice but to stick with Telkom’s inadequate landline services.
 
Many users live in areas that fall outside cellular network coverage or simply can’t afford these services. One can just imagine how much money the fortunate ones wasted trying to get hold of Telkom’s customer service by making using of their cellphones. Many of these users might discover that two tins and a line might bring them further, at least money wise.

Why is Telkom not doing enough to address the deterioration of lines?

In what might be deemed as a ‘miracle’, Telkom acknowledged during meetings with farmers and other parties, that a lack of proper maintenance played a major role in the deterioration of lines. This lack according to them can directly be attributed to the high cost of maintaining these lines. In other words, it’s not financially viable anymore to properly maintain these lines because among other factors the number of users has fallen drastically over the past years.

While Telkom’s excuse might enjoy a lot of support its also to be blamed, to a great extent, for the state of affairs. If Telkom addressed the issues properly at an early stage more users would probably have stayed on, enough to pay for proper maintenance at least.

What’s Telkom’s solution to the problem?

Telkom offered participants a solution at the meetings mentioned above. They’re planning to replace the lines, in terms of functionality, with towers that will make a wireless service possible.

While ADSL South Africa agrees that this might be the only viable long-term solution, Telkom needs to answer one question: “If you can’t afford to properly maintain these landlines, why should people pay you for an almost non-existent service? Would you be bankrupted if you offered these services free of charge?”

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa) deplores Telkom’s way of dealing with people as if they’re just a herd of cattle they can milk dry.