Users still waiting for ADSL changes

By Dave Glazier for Telkom
Johannesburg, 20 Oct 2006

The new ADSL regulations, gazetted over two months ago after public hearings and much interest, do not seem to have had any effect on Telkom`s ADSL subscribers, says MyADSL founder Rudolph Muller.

His discussion forum site has been rife with comments from broadband users outraged by the lack of action taken by the regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA).

"We have not seen any concrete changes since the release of the ADSL regulations. Telkom has already indicated it will not do much regarding the regulations, while ISPs are saying they are assessing the situation and waiting for Telkom to respond," he says.

Muller believes ICASA`s lack of action regarding the regulations` enforcement is fuelling the apathy towards it. "ICASA has been asked on numerous occasions to clarify what is meant by the regulations, but nothing is forthcoming - many people feel the regulator is simply hiding away, hoping the ADSL issues will just disappear."

ICASA`s view

However, ICASA maintains the new laws are being enforced.

"The ADSL regulations are in full force and effect, and if there are complaints of non-adherence by Telkom or Internet service providers, such complaints may be forwarded to ICASA`s consumer protection department," says Sekgoela Sekgoela, manager, media liaison and stakeholders.

The appropriate steps to address such non-compliance would be taken, he promises, saying the consumer protection department may be reached at consumer@icasa.org.za.

Telkom`s group executive for corporate communications Lulu Letlape says the fixed-line operator is in compliance with "most of the requirements as contained in the ADSL regulations".

Changes needed

"In some instances, Telkom will need to make changes to its network and service provision - this will result in further compliance. The company will approach ICASA to discuss how best to meet the requirements of the regulations," she adds.

According to the regulations, Telkom is obliged to provide ADSL services to prospective qualifying customers, who reside in an ADSL-enabled exchange. "Telkom endeavours to meet the 30-working-day requirements for qualifying applications - but this will be affected by the large number of orders currently on the order book," explains Letlape.

While ICASA is satisfied with Telkom`s adherence to the regulations, end-users complain that they are still not seeing any benefits from the new laws.

"How can an ISP be responsible to supply its clients with uncapped local bandwidth when the ISP is paying per gigabyte on that local realm account?" asks one MyADSL forum member.

"This just boils my blood," says another.

To read the full ADSL regulations, click here.