On the left is an example of a Flash SMS received on an iPhone. As you can see there is no option to save it or view the sender’s number. On other phones the sender’s number is displayed.

You need a jailbroken iPhone for this to work. First read the page here:http://xsellize.com/topic/25209-flash-sms-on-iphone/
It shows you how to install Minicom from cydia and configure it to connect to /dev/tty.debug .
The post is informative but lacks three important pieces of information.

1. First step: mkdir /usr/etc
2. Before entering “at”, first press down and hold in spacebar until the cursor starts moving. You need to do this to “get the attention” of the /dev/tty.debug modem otherwise it’s just going to ignore everything you send it.
3. When crafting your Flash SMS using http://rednaxela.net/pdu.php , SMSC should be 0 and Receiver is the number of the person you’re sending the message to. Remember to set message class to 0.

Once the modem is responding to your commands in Minicom, simply enter the following:
AT+CMGF=0
AT+CMGS=(number from the site in the “Hex PDU message” column)
> (Paste the characters from the pdu site but do not press enter)
Press Ctrl+Z

That’s it. Enjoy!

Now there are already hundreds of posts and comments about how this is a totally unfeasible initiative, how it’s childish to think it would do anything to help fight crime, and how the idiot that thought it would be a good idea should be fired immediately, but I haven’t seen anybody make the most obvious argument against it yet, which is this:

There is no way for an operator to distinguish between a prepaid user living in a home with access to TV/newspapers/the internet and a prepaid user living in a shack in the middle of nowhere. FICA worked because it involves money, if you don’t have money you don’t have to worry about it. RICA on the other hand affects -all- people, and you can’t make arbitrary rules like “people in rural and informal settlements don’t have to comply” or “people in informal settlements can provide the address of the nearest school/church instead” (yes, RICA actually says that), because you physically can’t tell who is who.

Statement one: It is impossible to force at least one user on your network to register his address.
Statement two: One user is indistinguishable from another (All users are the same).
Conclusion: It is impossible to force any user on your network to register his address.

If you can’t get the people with no permanent home address to comply, and you cannot distinguish them from people with permanent residence, it is impossible to force anyone to comply. The only alternative is to disconnect -all- users. Let’s see how well that turns out if that happens…

The solution: Just don’t comply. You still have about 17 months anyway, so rather wait and see how it plays out.

When I read about the Telkom CLOSER packages, way back when they were first introduced, I was pretty skeptical. You actually payed more for standard time calls, you couldn’t use Infinitcall with it, and you still payed normal rates to your dial in to your dialup ISP. You can read more about CLOSER in the past in this article written June 2006: http://www.grandtrunk.za.org/telkom-closer/

Today, you still pay standard dialup rates, and cannot use InfinitCall, but that doesn’t really matter anymore if you have ADSL (Which is now becoming affordable at around R200p/m).

Advantages of CLOSER 2:

Monthly Charge of R145 includes:

• Home Line Rental – R111.90
• Call Answer – R9.85
• 30 local standard time minutes – R11.412
• Unlimited “free” local and long-distance callmore calls (up to an hour)

How does it compare with standard line rental?

Notes:
* CLOSER 2 local calls are 5c per/minute more expensive than a standard line. But since you have 30 “free” local minutes, you will only start paying more after talking more than 260 minutes (4.3 hours).
** Free up to an hour. Just put down the phone and dial again!
Internet dial-up calls, international calls, Premium rated calls (0862 & 0867) and calls to mobile numbers are always charged at normal rates.

Summary:
If you limit the amount of time you spend on the phone during peak time to less than 10 hours per month, and call people at their home instead of on their cell, you can enjoy “free” local and long-distance calls after 7pm. With a bit of planning, you can cut your phone bill to under R200 per month.

Further Reading:
You can read more about the other CLOSER plans here and here.
Call charge rates were obtained here