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No Comments South Africa’s confusing ADSL industry
written by Eve Dmochowska
This post appeared originally on www.TheBroadbandBible.co.za
So my partner Craig and I have opened up 2010 with our official release of the The Broadband Bible, which is a 66 page pdf that compares ADSL and Wireless plans in South Africa. All in all, there are 35+ ISPs listed, and about 300+ different plans. And it took a long time to put together. You can download it for free here, or read it below.
I did most of the tabulating and comparing myself, which was an eye opener. It made me realise what a convoluted and confusing industry this really is. In fact, as Craig says, it seems that some ISPs make their living my purporsefully making the plans as complicated and difficult to understand as possible, and hiding from an apples-to-apples comparison.
And from looking at our comparison tables, it is mind boggling to understand how some ISPs get away with charging what they charge. Some prices, for a virtually identical product can be up to five times as high as those of the cheapest provider. When you get over the shock, you start feeling a big bout of disgust.
And although it is (hopefully) true that the more expensive ISPs offer faster speeds (lower latencies) and better customer service, this certainly does not come across clearly in their explanations of the service.
What is most interesting to me though, is how the Internet promises “perfect information” (all information supposedly available online, all easily accessible) yet manages to sustain such price discrepancies, for a basic commodity. Basically what it boils down to is that the theory of having perfect information does not (not even closely) lead to attaining the “Perfect Price”. And why not? I guess the extra layer of what needs to happen with the perfect information (careful analysis, rational decision process) is a challenge many simply are not committed to. Which is why, with pretty websites and confusing language, many ISPs get away with overcharging.
All this highlights a worrying trend: is the online audience expecting to be spoonfed all the time, or will there come a time when easily accessible perfect information will become the standard? Certainly Craig and I are going to continue creating “Consumer Bibles”, comparing specs of products so that the audience can make better informed decisions (our next bibles are the Printer Bible and the Laptop Bible, launching January 21 2010). At the very least we hope this will start a trend of clear reporting by the manufacturers, and indirectly force better prices, and better products.
Download The Broadband Bible for free here, or read below