The media has been having a field day reporting on the Telkom/ICASA fiasco, even resorting to name-calling, and debates have started to take on a distinctly political flavour. The media has been having a field day reporting on the Telkom/ICASA fiasco, even resorting to name-calling, and debates have started to take on a distinctly political flavour.

Needless to say, this has had the media in a frenzy, with the worst of our kind vying to get hold of the most disgruntled telecoms player they could lay hands on, to give them a platform to mouth off and splash that across the front pages of newspapers.

Telkom`s threats to stop further investment in ADSL after Icasa`s findings shocked the industry and business to the core, as business and industry captains and even some organs of state voiced their opinions.

Though Telkom has been reported as extending a friendly hand to Icasa saying that it wants to meet with the authority and explain how its ADSL pricing system works, some people in the industry are still dissatisfied, saying it`s high time Telkom was toppled off its high horse.

Not surprisingly, political parties have also jumped on the bandwagon. The Democratic Alliance`s Dene Smuts predictably encouraged Icasa to take a stronger stand, citing its `failings to act as an independent regulator`.

Smuts is further reported as calling Telkom an `expert litigant with deep pockets`. This she supported by bemoaning the manner in which Telkom has "prevented Icasa from taking action by locking [it] in extensive legal battles," calling this "uncalled for and a result of Telkom`s financial influence".

Icasa, on the other hand is reported to be standing firm in the face of an onslaught. "It`s psychological warfare," Icasa`s chairman Paris Mashile claimed. He said that Telkom is trying to bully the authority for simply performing its mandatory duties.

Vodacom`s CEO, Alan Knott-Craig, has reportedly (and also predictably, given the relationship) put his weight behind Telkom, saying that the fixed line operator is being unfairly criticised.

The last byte

Hackers. What shall we do about them? The white hats, especially, are of highly inscrutable disposition. One such person approached us with a release that wanted us to publish his solution, which is a pretty normal thing to do for an industry vendor, but the approach baffled us somewhat. "You are probably not aware that the servers of three of the big name SA companies were compromised this week," it began. OK, so we weren`t. "Could we have their names, though?" we asked. "No," the person said on being phoned. "Could we be pointed to a publicly accessible spot where we could find the information for ourselves?" "Yes," said the person. "Actually, no. I`m sure you know the sites where you can monitor these things. Actually, let me speak to our PR about this." At this, we were a bit confused. First, he was sure we didn`t know. Then he was sure we did. But we absolutely understand his decision to withhold information in the end.

Gateway Communications, one of the members of the CommuniTel consortium, says accusations that another consortium partner fabricated its empowerment credentials will not delay the introduction of the second national operator (SNO). CommuniTel has a 12.5% stake in the SNO. Reports indicated that members of Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veteran`s Association (MKMVA), accused CommuniTel`s chairman Deacon Mathe and Dumisani Khoza of using its name for their own enrichment. Talk about battlefield cred!

A South Korean man who played computer games for 50 hours, almost non-stop, died of heart failure minutes after finishing his mammoth session in an Internet cafe, authorities said last Tuesday. The 28-year-old man, identified only by his family name Lee, had been playing on-line battle simulation games at the cybercafe in the southeastern city of Taegu, police said.