Information Technology Editor
CUSTOMERS waiting for high speed internet will soon bombard the industry regulator with complaints because Telkom lacks the capacity to offer the service within a new deadline of 30 days, according to the Internet Service Providers’ Association of SA.
Telkom has been ordered to install its high-speed ADSL service within a month under new rules from the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa).
Icasa would be inundated with complaints given Telkom’s current backlog and slow installation times, said Greg Massel, co-chairman of the association.
Imposing a strict installation time is almost the only step Icasa has taken after hearing complaints about the high cost and low quality of Telkom’s ADSL service. In findings issued last week, Icasa did not intervene in the prices or lift a cap on the amount of international bandwidth that can be used each month.
Massel said the positive step of setting specific installation times was dramatically overshadowed by the authority’s lack of action to prevent anticompetitive behaviour by Telkom or to make the service more affordable.
“The central issues of the lack of affordability and limited bandwidth capacity have been neatly sidestepped, while it remains uncertain what sanctions will be imposed should Telkom fail to meet the 30-day installation deadline.”
Telkom spokeswoman Lulu Letlape acknowledged that “a big number” of customers were waiting for ADSL but did not give an actual figure.
One industry source said he believed the backlog stood at 50000 customers