The cat’s out of the bag
It’s no secret to any one who really knows me about how much I detest monopolies. Why? Because, in the long term, they do nothing but stiffle innovation, and prevent certain natural events from taking place. Now, when it comes to monopolies, I believe that telecom companies (I see them as cockroaches) do more harm than good because their actions can directly (and indirectly) prevent a nation from reaching or realising its true economic potential.
I say this with confidence based on comparing different societies. For example, look at the rapid pace of broadband Internet innovation in places like Sweden, Japan and South Korea in comparison to Kenya, South Africa, and, yes, even the USA to a lesser degree. Did you know that most Koreans can get 10+ Megabit connections to the Internet? Heck some Swedes can even get 100 Megabits/sec DSL connections right now for US $79.49. How unfair.
Today, we’re going to take a good look at what has to be one of the most hated monopolies I’ve ever seen in a very long time. Please allow me to introduce you to Telkom SA – aka Hellkom. I urge you to follow the links.
Hellkom on Earth?
BTW, I love this South African website, Hellkom.co.za, which is a grassroots site determined to get Telkom SA to reduce its ridiculous broadband prices. Do you want to see how pissed off they are? Well, take a quick peek at this poignant Digg.com discussion: Worst ADSL offering in the world? As a self-proclaimed Internet whore who’s dependent on reliable broadband Internet access in order to get work done, I just want to show my support for all the affected users in South Africa. So here’s a big “shoutout” to the spirited folks over at the MyADSL.co.za forums who are keeping the pressure on Hellkom (er Telkom SA) via MyADSL. You can also get there by typing MyBroadband.co.za. Like I said, a lot of people in South Africa are pissed off at Telkom SA for “Information super highway robbery.”
Thou shall not hate
Good lords, I’ve never seen a telecom company so hated by its customers in all my life. I know people hate (or hated) AT&T, Verizon (merger of GTE and Bell Atlantic), NYNEX (acquired by Bell Atlantic which is no more) et al, but this is scary. Check this out: www.ScrewThePublic.co.za. Yikes, if Telkom SA ever gets any real competition, me thinks even the cockroaches (click on pic above) that infest the company’s toilets will be jumping ship. After all, they’re probably getting ripped off too with all the nice lavish toilet bowls, furniture and what not that’s most likely clean as a whistle due, once again, to the obscene profits Hellkom’s raking in. LOL.
Hi ich bin Chriswab aus Bottrop !! Viele Grüsse !!
Hello to you too, Chris.
Greetings from Nairobi, Kenya.
I had to translate your text over at
AltaVista’s Babel Fish.
Thanks for dropping by. Perhaps we can exchange some Techno MP3? Germany’s Chris Liebing is one of my favourite DJs.
By the way, is it OK if I link to your blog at the group blog on http://www.upnaira.blogspot.com ?
and also, you’re welcome to join anytime, i’ll send you an invitation now.
“By the way, is it OK if I link to your blog at the group blog on http://www.upnaira.blogspot.com ?”
Tosin, you are more than welcome to link to my blog from any where in cyber space.
“and also, you’re welcome to join anytime, i’ll send you an invitation now.”
I would definitely join if you guys feel that I can contribute. BTW, I truly am impressed with the amazing stuff you appear to be doing (or are involved with) over at CalTech based on the home page link in your profile. Keep on learning!
Thanks, that’s so sweet.
I just linked, but I just noticed that I don’t have your email address, I need it to send you an invite you can email me at hotmail.com user ootitoju whenever you feel like joining in.
Later.
Another thing, I badly want a “recent comments” feature on the group blog…I’m still hunting on the web for a solution I like.
Im glad that there is somebody else more hated than us. I hope Hellkom keeps up the good work.
Back then I think I hated paying my monthly NYNEX phone bill more than sending my cheating wife an alimony cheque. They were real pricks. Good riddance to them.
Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!
Max this quote is hilarious.
“Yikes, if Telkom SA ever gets any real competition, me thinks even the cockroaches (click on pic above) that infest the company’s toilets will be jumping ship. After all, they’re probably getting ripped off too with all the nice lavish toilet bowls, furniture and what not that’s most likely clean as a whistle due, once again, to the obscene profits Hellkom’s raking in. LOL.”
You are funny as hell while also remaining informative on the main topic.
You have a very natural way of expressing yourself in words without being boring so I most certainly will pass on word of this blog to my collaegues.
Vivian
i live in SA wish hellkom would die a fast painful death. the bastards they are
By the way, try Dylan Drazen if you like deep house.
I particularly recommend the Barbecue series as being the best of the lot. I have some other deep links on my website if you like that sort of thing.
There seems to be little hope for us as the SA government owns a considerable percentage of shares in Telscum!! There should be a law against governments owning shares in private companies! Telkom has also recently bought back large amounts of it’s own shares, which it shouldn’t have been able to do, by law, but of course there are always ways around that if you have government connections.
I pray for the day that Telkom meets it’s demise