science

Hellkom

Hellkom is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hellkom rather than just read about it. In short: Hellkom is an Internet parody site about Telkom, South Africa's telecommunications monopoly. It was started by Gregg Stirton in June 2004 as a protest to the parastatal's excessive pricing for its services.

Key takeaways

Hellkom belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hellkom to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hellkom from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hellkom is an Internet parody site about Telkom, South Africa's telecommunications monopoly. It was started by Gregg Stirton in June 2004 as a protest to the parastatal's excessive pricing for its services. In April 2009, Stirton started a discussion forum named BBLounge (short for broadband lounge) to complement the site. Hellkom and BBLounge communities represent South African telecommunication consumers who want to see South Africa benefit from full liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in South Africa by educating the public and the media. Statistical, financial and factual information is provided in an effort to educate the South African and international public of the current telecommunication situation in South Africa. Currently, 1.7 million South Africans have Internet access, from a population of 44 million people. 0.2% of the population have ADSL broadband access. (Source: INTUG) South African ADSL broadband usage is currently being hampered by the 3 GB monthly traffic limit (equivalent to less than a day of moderately sustained usage, after which access is cut off for the rest of the month), by the cost of the service, and by the heavy port prioritization and bandwidth throttling/traffic shaping of international traffic at exchanges. The reason, speculates the Communications Users Association of South Africa (CUASA), is that incumbent Telkom makes more from leased line solutions than it ever will from providing ADSL. Technical professionals seeking acceptable telecommunications infrastructure to support their work often find emigration an attractive option; in this way Telkom is at least partly responsible for the continuing exodus of much-needed skilled workers. "The whole country is being hamstrung by Telkom and restrictive legislation. One colonial-style monopoly is manufacturing all the salt and reselling it in limited quantities at restrictive prices." (Source: INTUG)

Related Organizations BBLounge Archived 2011-08-12 at the Wayback Machine Antitrust

References

External links Hellkom INTUG CUASA ISPA ISOC-ZA

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hellkom

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hellkom claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hellkom before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hellkom ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hellkom

In research: Hellkom appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hellkom in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hellkom is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Telecommunications in South Africa, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hellkom outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hellkom in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hellkom means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hellkom out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hellkom in simple terms?

Why does Hellkom matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hellkom?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hellkom.