This is wha Im talking about.I love there guys:-) http://www.broadbandwatchdog.co.uk/story/2009/12/04/bt-chairman-the-only-man... bernard -----Original Message----- From: Bernard Mwagiru Sent: 03/01/2010 9:38:13 pm To: amanya Cc: Skunkworks Forum Subject: RE: [Skunkworks] Oohh I like this Experience has shown that even with the best of regulations in place, every competitive market needs to be kept on toes by knowledgable,informed, updated and active consumer protection groups. Furthermore,most of those great regulatory policies stem from recommendations of active participations of consumer associations et al. We may not all have knowledge of what we should expect from operators probably because we may misconstrue "crappy" service as the norm.While members in this list may be well-versed with the technologies,many offlist dont.Eg I was very impressed that vodafon uk include the contention ratio value on the hsdpa modem in its advertisements! On inquiry I was told that some uk association pressured vodafon uk to do so after numerous complaints from customers.What customers now expect is not 3.6Mbps but an acceptable value of mobile broadband as calculated from this contention ratio.Hence, Vodafon Uk have to ensure that certain levels are maintained lest consumer fury befalls them:-).Im sure if such level of awareness was made available to consumers then surely one would be in a better position prior to putting pen to paper. An informed consumer protection group would certainly know that due to the challenges and shortcoming of the technology itself(shared bandwidth for instance),a certain acceptable level of service should be maintained.And it is this awareness that should be sought.I highly doubt that numerous email complaints to operators would bring the desired effect. bernard -----Original Message----- From: amanya Sent: 03/01/2010 5:17:26 pm To: bmwagiru Cc: Skunkworks Forum Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] Oohh I like this Alex and Bernard you are mixing up two issues here: the ideal and what is. It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. Adam Smith *An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations*, par. I.2.2 The telcos will continue giving crappy service, and they are not alone in this, until regulation forces them otherwise. As Bernard rightly points out, an actual Consumers Association would be a huge step forward. That said am stymied when Alex argues, and a second time at that, "Over [the] last 1 year the service was degraded..." and still has an issue with Orange upgrading its network. BTW Alex, Orange did reduce the prices of their data bundles. Bernard, as fas as data goes, I gave all 4 telcos a shot and cost and quality is what motivated me: http://bit.ly/OrangeData, http://bit.ly/SuffData, http://bit.ly/ZainData. Zain's unlimited is the cheapest but it didn't work for me in a number of places. Cost also motivated the voice switch to Yu. From a minimum 100 per day to 100-150 every 2 days. What, Benard, if i may ask are you using for Data and Voice?