The egg cup

another interesting ad on the skyline.

Yes, it's the new cell provider to be launched in Windhoek today. (Windhoek only, so that anyone travelling around will need to stay with MTC).

The attractive logo, for which the company paid some dodgy ad agency ten of thousands of dollars, was originally attached to the side of the building, but the Municipality thought it was liable to come crashing down and therefore a hazard, so ordered it to be erected on top. Allusions to Humpty Dumpty will not be appreciated.

The company claims there will be no start up costs for clients, and no premium for calling fixed lines; greater competition and reduced prices for customers etc. Good news for Very Important politicians, since the new arrival means big kick-backs., and free cell-phones all round, including the State President. But I think all it basically means is that, in the absence of anti-monopoly legislation here, the two providers will enter into a cosy cartel between themselves to rip the customer off even more. This has already happened, when they made a 'joint' (!) objection to hobble Telecom's much superior CDMA mobile service, with much cheaper calls to fixed lines.

Yes, so whereas in the 18th century, highway robbers preyed off all those needing to communicate, the same job today is done by cellular providers. All of them. So we shall see.