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Worst ADSL offering in the world?

telkom.co.za — Here in South Africa ADSL users have to pay exorbitant rates for both line rental and ISPs. So it works out that buying both services + phone line rental from the state owned monopoly, Telkom, you pay about R549 ($86) per month for a 192 kbps 2GB cap shaped account. Once you have reached the cap you have to couch up +- $12 extra per GB

Who dugg this? Made popular Dec 11, 2005

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141 Comments

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  • Alternate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Seriously us in South Africa are having a real bad time with these guys, they make enourmous profits and say that they are trying their best to keep the prices down. :/ So most of us are stuck with dial-up. The only other alternative is 3G broadband, but it costs even more because of Telkoms super-high bandwith costs.

    For more info also visit:

    http://www.myadsl.co.za
    http://www.antitrust.co.za
    http://www.screwthepublic.co.za
    http://www.hellkom.co.za
  • RussianElite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yar i know im paying it @ the moment ;(
  • statik99, on 11/03/2009, -0/+4See, the royal minister that emailed me about transferring me funds should keep the thousands of dollars he wanted to give up so he can pay his ADSL bill instead.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2In Nebraska
    256kbps Down
    128kbps Up

    $50/ month!

    That is what I pay! Have no other choice because its a small town, and the only telephone company!

    Rob
  • mcmali, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I live in Mali (it's in West Africa). I gladly pay about $200 a month for my 128 kbps down/ 28 kpbs up ADSL, even though during the day I often only get about 50 kbps down. It's still cheaper than getting a dial-up connection since you have to pay for each minute on both the phone line and the 'net connection. Over all, it kinda sucks but at least I can Skype my family in the states.
  • sickdm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You guys all know that part of the reason SA's DSL is so expensive are the huge charges levied by the US backbone providers in order to allow peering with the SA networks to take place... right?
  • iShadowFox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I always thought Singapore ISP are charging us way too much but I think this digg change my point of view...
  • flipper5311, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2by the way,anyone from korea?i've heard that korean are having the fastest connection(cheapest too).is it right?
  • boytron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2here in Brazil we have to pay almost $160 (what makes about R$80) too for a mere 300kbps account plus ISP, which there is no reason to use at all, since the services offered by the ISP are ***** and have no connection at all with the ADSL company you are served with.

    and yet, it's too bad when you complain about the high taxes *plus* bad services offered, and the companies go saying they are at their rights - if you want a better service offer, you have to pay a lot more for it, beyond the usual plan.
  • wildrabbit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Check this, This is even more expensive.

    Iceland.

    http://www.siminn.is/control/index?pid=34065 (This page doesn't exist in english)

    Ok, 1GB limit, 128Kb/s speed. 117 American Dollars a month. Now aint that expensive??
  • Punk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2hey it could be worse, no wait, dammit :( Damn I hate telkom those bastards with a passion.
  • Anekdoten, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2In Uruguay I pay $200.00 for 512kbps down and 128kbps up for a static ip. Pretty freaking unreasonable but that's the price I have to pay for having good quality of life.
  • TelkomSucks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1As long as government owns such a huge chunk of Telkom as they do at present prices wont come down. I mean Telkom made such a huge profit last year why should they reduce prices they are a monopoly remember bleeding the South African people dry. At present you can pay a small cars installment for the same price you pay for ADSL-pathetic shame on you Telkom for ripping the people that pay your salaries a new one every time.
  • andries, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If only Telkom South Africa was using its super profits to connect schools and the people (80 percent of the population) who don't even have home or community phones I wouldn't mind the rip-off fees.
    But that's not happening at all. In fact the government is willfully obstructing the establishment of a second telecom because that will subject their beloved Telkom to competition and fair prices.
    That's the real tragedy.
    Get a life guys: complain about the cause, not the effect.
  • Chordonblue, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1ANY service that puts a cap on things simply sux. I'd rather have a straight 128K connection than constantly worry about whether or not I'm 'over the limit'. My first ISP did that *****.

    So yeah, S. Africa seems to be the total suckatude here, but there are close runner-ups...

    Saudi Arabia certainly classifies as a 'winner' in the 'worst' ISP dept. if only for the extreme censorship they have to endure.

    Seychelles should get an award for being forced to use satellite - what's that ping like? It's gotta be more than 500 ms. to the mainland. Daaaayymmm! No Battlefield:2 for you! Unless they made BF:2 into an MUD.

    The Falkland Islands should win an award for 'Most confusing plan'. What kind of ***** is that? With that kind of mismanagement it's no wonder Maggie went in guns blazing.

    Now you New Zealanders just kill me. You folks live in Middle Earth! Magic travels slowest there my friends! Perhaps you require the aid of the White Wizard...

    There are some places in the good 'ol U, S, of A that totally suck also. There are places like the McLean, VA area that are within spitting distance of Mae East and can't get more than ISDN for $200+ a month!

    And if that's not bad enough, you've got stupid bills like the "Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act" - why not call it "Preserving the Status Quo in Telecommunications Act" and stamp it with a picture of a big boot up someone's ass. And don't you just blame good ol' Pete. Believe me, there are plenty of Democrats that feed of the telecom tit donation money. And don't get me started about the RIAA/MPAA ***** that goes on too.

    Uraguay... I know NOTHING about Uruguay except that it's close to Paraguay, and (knowing nothing about the two countries) I bet they hate each other enough to be sure communication is difficult and expensive. Ever notice how the more similar a society is to another one the more chance that they absolutely hate each other? Hutus and Tutsies, Iraq / Iran, etc.

    And on the good side - the single most connected country in the world would have to be Korea... SOUTH Korea (smoke signals from the North don't count, sorry Mr. Supreme Ruler). S. Korea's economy was in the toilet a few years back and the gov't made a commitment to ensure that fast broadband would be available anywhere. The average speed there is now 10 Mbits and they are quickly moving to 100 Mbits in the cities.

    Of course, as you can tell by the lack of responses from our Korean friends, most of their bandwidth is confined to local Korean sites like nate.com or daum.net. I'm sure it won't be long until their Pr0n is in 3 friggin' D too!
  • Mindstormer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah im here in Johannesburg here in south africa, We have iBurst, wireless internet, 1mbit line (seems like more like half that) 3gb upload/download and then your capped at 64kbit, ill probably hit the cap today.... costs about R600 which = $90 or something
  • SteveCopley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ha! That's nothing...

    Here in Seychelles my place of work (a school) has a wireless 256kbps 'broadband' link to our ISP (beyond the ISP things slow down as the 8Mbps satellite link off the island is shared by every Internet user). It costs 4000 Seychelles Rupees per month. That's...

    £400 per month!!!!
    HAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!! (have to laugh or I'd cry!)
    Here's the website advertising this amazing deal: http://www.seychelles.net/skyway/office.htm

    That has to be the worst pricing ever, but we have little or no choice (until next year when some other ISPs become licensed)
  • nic777, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Re: Wireless in SA

    There are some wireless community projects starting out by fed-up people. Although commercial offerings are not that hot either due to the Telkom monopoly.

    Not only are they screwing the ADSL users but they are protecting their interests by charging exorbinant amounts for wholesale bandwidth, thereby making commercial wireless providors an unattractive option.



  • JulianGarcia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Bogota, Colombia, South America. About 35 USD monthly, 256 kps.
  • ptknight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ flickerdigger
    I'm sure my Azureus pumps better than yours

    What are you talking about? My adsl pumps faster than your crappy portugal-shark-telecom adsl. Wanna race? select a torrent from NewNova.org and i'll send a video to you

    mine's bigger than yours
  • reboare, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think the wi-fi option was the best. Get a hole bunch of people on one big wireless router, badabing, you can charge them for the service!

    Here in Seattle, WA I am getting 7mb down 400k up and paying $25

    Yea, I know, I suk.
  • cymrich, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The prices have changed recently due to competition, but for a while I was paying $149.99 a month for a 2.0Mb/256Kb cable modem and a 10GB DL limit.... $20 per extra GB... My first bill was about $2000... Anchorage Alaska at it's finest...
  • DoMaGe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1africanhotspot.com as an option?
  • dghough91, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1People from Australia should stop complaining! at least we get decent priced Broadband, all you ever hear is people complaining about Telstra.

    Get over it! Complain about Telkom.
  • Smokezz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1love56k: So if it costs them $75-80/month to service those customers, they aren't justified in charging $86? Or are you one of those people that think ISPs should just give away Internet access for free, to hell with them making a return on their investment, or even staying in business long?
  • Osiriscky3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1hahahaha I love America :)

    sucks to be you guys

    i pay $30 a month for 6Mbps
  • Trigeno, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You think that is bad imagine Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where a single month of ADSL service will set you back nearly 900 AED, at 3.65 AED to each $US makes a stagering $246 per month, and many times that will be for a shared line with other tenants, !!!!the outrage.
  • nGAGEd55, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"love56k: So if it costs them $75-80/month to service those customers, they aren't justified in charging $86? Or are you one of those people that think ISPs should just give away Internet access for free, to hell with them making a return on their investment, or even staying in business long?"

    Smokezz, Telkom made more than $1 billion profit last year, AFAIK they make the most profit per customer in the world! They can certainly stay in bussiness with that amount of profit. On 1 Nov they effectively increased their bandwidth cost by 1000%, a 30GB account used to cost as little as R200 (about US$32) now a 30GB account costs about R2000 (about US$320). That IMO is not fair at all. The costs for them to provide that service deffinetly didnt go up by 1000%. They even charge us a "line rental" for ADSL which is seperate from the ISP cost, so we pay for the same piece of copper that comes into our homes twice! (BTW ISPs are seperate from Telkom but they must buy their bandwidth from Telkom and ISP barely make any profit because of high bandwidth costs)
  • DaviDK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Now in Portugal you can get a 16 mbit connection for 35 euros through www.clix.pt, but it still has a 25GB download limit.

    It used to be much worse, Portugal Telecom offered (and still does) 2 mbits for 37 euros and a download limit of 5GB.
  • Havagan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1US Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
    $94 USD/Month -- 11kpbs actual download speed
    -----
    $34 phone (required for DSL) + $60 (DSL)
  • galdur, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1oh, and each GB extra in Iceland? Around *$38* ...
  • tomaburque, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm seriously rooting for WiMax

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimax

    to give the cable and telephone companies a swift kick of competition in their backsides. There is this wonderful trend in the US of cities wanting to put up mesh WiFi networks to provide their communites cheap or even free broadband. But there's this Republican (of course) from Texas (naturally) named Pete Sessions who has a bill before Congress ironically titled "Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act" which would ban any municipality from offering telecommunications, information, or cable services except where private enterprises had not provided such services.

    http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.2726:
  • flickerdigger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1
    Hmm... I have Portugal Telecom's adsl and it's more exepensive that your's, ptknight. It's 8Mb/384K, but (BIG but) they don't throttle eMule and Azureus like Clix does (gotcha!) so I'm sure my Azureus pumps better than yours
  • Ethyriel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That makes me feel not so bad about my 1.5/864 bridged connection costing $48 a month. Actually, it's not the speed or the price that pisses me off, it's that the connection is bridged rather than routed. But hey, at least the downtime/=uptime like cable tends to down here in S. Arizona

    But I just got off dialup a month ago, so those 160K/s downloads of x.org and kernel source are still looking awfully good :P
  • Vector713, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Gotta love cable. 4 beautiful megs of fairly constant speed for a meager 40$/mo.
  • tunnel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1damn thats expensive. Ive got download of 10meg and an upload of about 384kbps all for a staggering £35 a month which works out at $61 and thats with no monthly caps either from telewest.co.uk.
  • ptknight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1
    And I thought I was paying too much...

    Here in Portugal, I'm paying 34.90€ for 16Mb/400kb, plus 2€ for unlimited traffic from 1am to 8am (easy to schedule in Azureus ), plus I get 25Gb per month.

    http://adsl.clix.pt it's in Portuguese but you get to see the images and the numbers :-)
  • Wombat3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1and I thought MY dsl was bad...
  • FrostyFire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://digg.com/technology/_Cheaper_to_fly_than_use_ADSL_-_Computer_man_examines_Telkom_charges
  • dierien2001, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The scary thing about this.. I remember reading an article back in the early 90's about how US telecom companies were trying to figure out a way to charge like this for internet services via phone line.. kind of like cell phone minutes + long distance..

    Damn scary
  • CnutsTruck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think that TELSKUM are a bunch of SILLY PUMPKINS, they are just naughty and very, very bad ! Who do they think their clientele are. Cash cows gullable to their deep clean out exploitation ? What sort of message are they sending, do they CARE. NO they DO NOT CARE ! Please get they ......... , .......... to .......... and .......... because ........ and ........ demmit !
  • madcat87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I am getting 2mbit/s Download and 512kbit/s Upload for $75 in Bulgaria.Not too bad, but there a lot of ISPs here.Ofcourse in US there are quite better offers.
  • leokeren, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1try indonesia. the rate is $100 for 1gb cap, $200 for 2 gb cap.
  • Cambo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I pay $99.00 for a 256k connection with no telephone line. in New Zealand
  • Cambo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1that is 256 down and 128k up btw
  • marcog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1A lot of people are mentioning more expensive services. But in most cases it is not the only offering, isn't it? Here in SA Telkom is our only option! And in most cases there are many advantages. Here in SA we our connection is shaped (non-http is SLOW!).

    And they trick people by lowering the line rental and then a couple of months later increasing the bandwidth cost! :-(

    Have you heard about the comparison between downloading 100GB in SA as opposed to flying to Hong Kong and downloading there? Hong Kong turned out to be the cheaper AND quicker option by far.
  • Portfolioso, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Verizon DSL is awesome (not as good as fiOs, their fiber optic stuff or cable) but my DSL is decent

    3MBPS down/ 768KBPS up
    $29.95 / month
  • bloodrain, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1512kb down
    128kb up
    i have unlimted bw.
    i can doing anything with it like host my own website from my pc to mess with the core dsl settings. thu its 48.00 doller a month
  • idiggit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Bell Canada Phone line: 27CDN$
    VIF Internet ADSL: 35CDN$
    Total: 62CDN$/Month (~54USD$)
    Down: 3Mbs
    Up: 512Kbs (I'm not sure)
  • GhostFreeman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Trenton GA (where I live at the moment) offers 512/256 ADSL for 50 dollars a month. The next best service up is 1.5/768, and its SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS a month for that. On top of that, pingtimes are an avg of 170ms, but they have drastically improved, so now I can play CS:S again.

    Some of us just don't have good options for broadband. I really wish that would change (Charter is going to offer Cable in about a year).
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