Note: This column represents the opinions
of the writer and as such, is not purported as fact
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Right about now, most Kiwis are busy enjoying the delights of summer.
Long days, warm evenings and plenty of festive cheer means that most of
us aren't really paying a lot of attention to the news, especially
the smaller news items.
So what better time for a big monopoly to whisper quietly "oh, by the
way, we're putting up the price of your phone rental... shhhh!"
Yes, that's right, Telecom have, not unexpectedly, hiked the price
of the domestic telephone line rental again -- as they are entitled to do
under the terms of their contract with the government.
Check Out The Aardvark PC-Based Digital
Entertainment Centre Project
Updated 2-Dec-2002
This contract, formerly known as "The Kiwi Share" is a great example of
how silly it can be to make long-term commitments in an area which is
subject to Moore's law.
You see, although Telecom claim otherwise, a great many well-informed
people are telling us that the actual cost of providing our domestic
phone service has been falling steadily for many years. Despite this,
the government which sold Telecom gave them an iron-clad right to keep
on charging the same price. What's more, they can even increase that
price to keep pace with inflation.
Imagine what our world would be like today if the price of all the electronic
products and communications services we use were similarly kept at their
1990's prices and adjusted for inflation?
How much did a good VCR cost back in 1990 -- about twice what it costs today.
The same goes for PCs, colour TVs, etc.
And as for Internet access -- well many people were paying $10 per MB or so
for the privilege way back then. Thank goodness this wasn't "protected"
by the Kiwi Share! That JetStream 500 connection would (after adjustment for
inflation) be costing you around $7,500 a month and even a Jetstream Starter
could cost you as much as $50,000 a month if you hit your 5GB limit.
So its probably no wonder that Telecom takes great care to try and keep
things like a government-protected price-hike as low-key as possible. After
all, it's a tactic that's been used by politicians for many years and it seemed
to work fairly well when the company chose the week before Christmas to
disconnect external access to customers' pop3 mailboxes.
And on other matters -- wouldn't you know it -- I've got the flu.
I just knew that as soon as I took a few days off my immune system would collapse
and leave me at the mercy of any passing virus or bacteria.
It's all just so frustrating!
As a result, I've not bothered chasing up new news headlines and links for
today's "lite" edition but that's a good thing -- now you can go back to
having fun!
I hope that, unlike me, you're all having a great break and enjoying the
good weather.
Stay tuned for the occasional update this week.
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in this column. If you'd like your comments published here then please
be sure to use this form and select For Publication.
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are also invited to contact me.
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