Surely that is the message for everyone of us that use a
telephone or is connected to satellite T.V.
Can you tell me the last time you had to pay an entrance fee
into a department store to purchase the product they were
selling???
My guess is NEVER
Even BHP charges only for the "end product" as does Energex, Ergon,
Caltex, BP, KMart, Myers and the like.
However, we have allowed ourselves to be ripped off by the
telecommunications industry in having to pay "service and equipment charges" and
mobile phone "access fees" and "15/20/25cents connection fees" etc. etc. in
order to purchase "the product" that these industries are
selling.
Buy a drink, buy a car, buy some clothes, etc, etc, etc,.......they
are "the product" that is open to competition in the marketplace and
all overhead costs are incorporated into the price you
pay.
If you had to pay an entrance fee to purchase those products my
guess is you'd look for an alternative option.
The telephone has become the poor persons necessity and
because of these "access fees" the major portion of their phone bill is
attributed to the imposition of these additional fees on top of the
actual call fee , therefore at times these erronious fees are often
greater than the actual product purchased...."the call time usage." And we
are all subjected to that same imposition.
Isn't it about time the telecommunications industry incorporated
their overheads into and charge us for the end product......(the call...time
usage) "the product" and it is that product.....the actual call time
that should be the factor that is open to competition.
Its about time we got the necessary changes in place before
Telstra is sold off completely, so that we only pay for the product purchased
and it is "THAT PRODUCT" the actual call and call time that is open to
competition.
By the way, have you ever tried to make "a call" without a handset
or a connection......impossible...they are the essential components and their
costs should only be passed on to us as the "overheads component cost "
built into the "actual call cost" and not as additionla add
ons.
Oh yes, I have heard the vast array of arguments put forth to
justify the "methodology" used by the telecommunications industry in their
pricing structure and would challeng those who put forth such arguments to
suggest they also endorse such pricing methods into all areas of
commerce.
If you buy a car......that is "the product" you are not charged
additional fees for, let's say, the steering wheel or the brake system or the
transmission, which are all essential to the effective usage of "the product"
you purchased. No....these ESSENTIAL components and their
costs are factored in to the total cost of "the product"
Forget she'll be right mate......how about, give us a break mate
and fair go mate instead, or have we so readily forgotten......Telstra is really
ours and was established from the taxes of us Aussies.
Have we not paid for it, propped it up, paid for it AGAIN with
share purchases and now are expected to accomodate consistently increasing costs
to use what is an essential necessity in todays communications
era?
This is YOUR opportunity to really do something for the poor, the
pensioners and the underpriveleged of AUSTRALIA.
Would you please
notify me as to how you propose to address the concerns I have presented to
you.
Thanking You
R.P. Matthews.
66 Netherton St.
NAMBOUR...4560
Mob.0419711297