TELKOM has released a statement refuting comments made by Alan Knott-Craig in a column in the Business Times (25 October, page 6) titled “Why broadband is expensive in SA”.
According to the Telkom statement, the contention that Telkom enjoys a de facto fixed-line monopoly contradicts the obvious movement towards the liberalisation of the telecommunications landscape. That Telkom has embraced and welcomed this competition is also well recorded in media comment around this issue over a number of years.
Telkom’s statement also said it is also incorrect for the columnist to claim that “wireless operators are forced to use Telkom for their short-and-long haul transmission”. The reality is that operators have had the right to self-provide since September 2005 and Telkom is, therefore, no longer the sole provider of all their network capacity requirements.
The columnist’s comments with regard to international connectivity are also inaccurate. For example, from a Telkom perspective, between 2002 and 2009, there has been an IPLC (International Private Leased Circuit) price decrease of 90% since the inception of the SAT3/WACS/SAFE cable system – S3WS for short. This means that Telkom has enabled the market to pass on price reductions to their customers.
Interestingly, a similar situation exists with regard to transmission links and transmission line costs. Over the last year, for instance, Telkom has significantly reduced transmission line costs enabling all mobile cellular operators (MCOs) to make substantial savings during this period.
Of further concern to Telkom is that a day after the publication of the article, Alan Knott-Craig distanced himself from it in an email to Telkom wherein he stated:
Excerpts:
“This is to confirm that I neither wrote nor contributed to the Article in the Sunday Times of yesterday which related to broadband tariffs as I recall. I was as surprised as I am sure you were to see an article with my photo and and name appear in the paper. The editor has apparently undertaken to print an apology/correction next Sunday” (email quoted verbatim).
