Ready to take action

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa), 14 February 2007

President Thabo Mbeki has once again reaffirmed government’s desire to make cheaper telecommunications a priority but failed to make known a specific plan of action.

Ready to take action? Empty promises again?

One can’t help to ask these questions based on government’s poor track record. We’re simply not convinced government is ready or willing to take the action that’s needed to bring down the cost of telecommunications in South Africa.

The same can be said of the crime situation in South Africa. It is clear to any thinking person that they aren’t after the nation’s best interests especially when key persons in government deny that crime has become an epidemic in this country. The fact that they always try to downplay or twist what they said and meant afterwards in order to save face, changes nothing but the fact that they think we’re brain dead. Solid action is what’s needed to combat crime in this country, and in any other country for that matter, not cheap empty words. Telling us for instance that other countries are experiencing the same problems is simply not going to do it. We’re South Africans living in South Africa. In other words, don’t hide behind the failures of others if you don’t have the guts to take the necessary action that’s needed or at least make your genuine support known.

Mbeki said in his State of the Nation address that government would take steps to:

• Improve competition.

• Lower cost of doing business.

• Promote investment.

• Develop “high-speed national and international broadband capacity.”

• Lower interconnections fees for cellphone calls.

• Discount access to international bandwidth for some call centres.

“While it is encouraging that a few selected call centres will get cheaper international bandwidth, it does not solve the bigger problem of exorbitant pricing” (Mbeki ‘short on telecoms solutions’, Stones). ADSL South Africa fully supports the Founder of MyADSL, Rudolph Muller’s notion in this regard.

Government has to address the core issues at hand, such as exorbitant pricing; otherwise no real progress will ever be made. Treating the symptoms of a problem will simply not make the root problem disappear.

ADSL South Africa(Broadband South Africa) welcomes encouraging words but solid action is what’s needed. There is probably nothing more damaging to a nation’s morale than cheap empty words.