Curious to know whether I was being ripped off or not, I decided to contact my fixed-line telecoms provider earlier this week to pose a few questions. As this particular company is also my broadband provider I was interested to know whether my data cap had been affected by the arrival of Seacom – even if only as a matter of competitive badgering; my ISP is not connected to this undersea cable.

The reason I wanted to ask was because most of my friends who are connected through ISPs that are hooked up to Seacom have all had their caps increased by at least a gig. This seems to be the good and proper thing to do to keep customers happy. In fact, a while ago, those in the know predicted that instead of reducing broadband subscription fees to reflect the vastly cheaper Seacom rates, ISPs would probably just increase data caps. By doing so, users would essentially be getting more than what they had been paying for. Well, sort of. And while my service provider is not connected to Seacom, you’d somehow think they’d want to run with the pack or at least match what the competition is offering. N’est pas?

But no, of course they didn’t. South Africa is still woefully behind in the concept of a competitive market. So now it’s up to me to decide whether I want to go through the hassle of terminating my current subscription and signing up with another ISP offering a more palatable deal. It’s no surprise that any bother is far outstripped by my irritation with being taken for a ride, so the choice to change is easily made.

On the topic of competitive pricing, Kevin Willemse exposes the current debacle surrounding mobile interconnection rates in South Africa on page 26. With the country’s telecoms providers charging vastly inflated interconnection rates, a growing number of politicians are championing the cause of the consumer. While the telcos have agreed in principle to reduce these fees in a structured manner over a set period, some have been less than eager to provide exact figures. Let’s hope the battle doesn’t last too long.

Gavin Barfield investigates Africa’s existing and proposed undersea cables. Essentially by the time 2011 rolls around Africa should be fully connected and at international capacity standards. Read more about where we’re at and what to expect on page 66.

Long regarded as the powerhouse of Africa and the leader in terms of ICT development and infrastructure on the continent, South Africa seems to be losing some ground, and its charm as a business opportunity is starting to fade. As a result, many South African ICT companies are now looking beyond the country’s borders for investment opportunities. See what respected technology writer Lesley Stones has to say on the matter in her article on page 45.

While bridging the digital divide in Africa is regarded as one of the biggest challenges for the continent, it also poses many of the greatest opportunities. Georgina Guedes investigates some of these projects, including MTN’s Village Phone, mobile banking services and the dissemination of broadband. Follow the trends and developments on page 32.

So, while you peruse this edition I’ll busy myself with researching the various broadband deals on offer.
Hopefully next time I’ll have some good news for you.

JAMES RETIEF