"We want to send a clear message to the SA government that Telkom's high prices and poor service levels, together with a general lack of momentum in opening up the telecoms sector to competition, are hurting SA businesses and households," says Richard Frank, an IT journalist who leads the campaign. "A full page advert, paid for by hundreds of local businesses and individuals, should do this."

The campaign draws inspiration from the SpreadFirefox Campaign, which took out a double-page spread in the New York Times on December 16 last year to celebrate the launch of the open source Mozilla Firefox browser. The Firefox advert listed thousands of donors' names, who contributed $30 or more to ensure that the advert was published.

The SA campaign will also publish the names of contributors, which Frank says will create a larger impact. "It is one thing for a big organisation or association to take out an advert, it is another for literally hundreds of people at grassroots level to put their names to an advert saying: 'enough is enough'," he adds.

Frank has received dozens of e-mails from irate Telkom users who have pledged their support. "The spectrum has been huge. We have had messages of support from CEOs, managers, small business owners, academics, lawyers, IT specialists, and others from all walks of life," says Frank. "It is clear that this situation affects nearly every consumer in the country."
 
The campaign is being run by Tectonic, a local technology news Web site. For months, editor of the Web site, Alastair Otter, has updated the Web site via cellphone, because Telkom has still not completed the installation of an ADSL line at his new office.

"The campaign comes out of the utter frustration and disillusionment that we feel over the telecoms sector in SA," says Otter. "We are being let down by policymakers in this country who have failed to grasp how important a competitive environment is in the global economy."

It is intended that the advert will run on October 20 2006. "We have set up a pledge database on Tectonic where consumers can pledge their support and the amount that they are prepared to contribute," says Otter. "Once we have received enough pledges to take out the advert, we will open a bank account into which donations can be placed."

Although the advert is only scheduled to run once, Frank says the gesture could mobilise local consumers to sustained action on the issue. "The advert will contain a bold statement that expresses how government, Icasa, and Telkom, are killing our businesses, affecting our lives and hurting SA," he says. "It will also inform readers on how they can get actively involved in the fight for telecoms reform."

Visit www.tectonic.co.za/tag.php for more information.