Amazed at how fools rush in...

G

Gemaskerde Tuinvurk

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Joburg / Sandton
Ive had a bit of sight of a few Fibre proposals, some very good, and some resembling a grade 3 school project.

I'm absolutely amazed at how people a jumping at the Fibre providers (wont name names, but go read up on their websites) who promise the world, but actually guarantee/agree pretty much nothing in writing or contractual terms. You are putting in Fibre for 20 to 50 years!! Are we not just creating little telkom monopolies all over again!!!

Thinking of things like:
  • Fair usage policy (they either dont have, or its completely pathetic)
  • Service level agreement on infrastructure maintenace - guarantees on outages, KPI monitored, penalties for non-compliance
  • Clarification of ownership of infrastructure - where does it start/end
  • 'Open-ness' of network: some providers say its open, but dont actually describe (in writing) what this means. Or they say 'at some point in future it will be open' - no guarantee
  • Transparent 'inter-connect' rates if the network is open. It doesnt help the network is open, but for all but 1 ISP the interconnect rate is R100 a GB!

The last 2 relate more to the fibre to the curb provider, but still... people are running after fibre without thinking twice. Sure it might be cheaper today, but in 5 years time you might be paying x10 what the guys who actually negotiated with the fibre providers are paying.

Dont get me wrong - I'm not saying all ISPs / infrastructure providers... some are really good.
 
I contacted a provider about a week ago for them to do a feasibility study at our business premises as we want to move to fiber.

The response i got was disturbing to say the least. I was emailed a service application form with a debit order authorization attached to it and stating that once they had received the completed form along with all related company documents they would do a site survey.

I will not mention the provider.
 
I hear you. We had proposals from 7 providers.

2 of them was great (Telkom is one of them)
3 of them was adequate
2 of them was crap - literally nothing more than a glorified powerpoint presentation
 
That's why we chose Frogfoot/Link Africa. They have a very open model, their prices are cheap and their business philosophy isn't as cutthroat as a certain blue provider *cough*.
 
jackshiels said:
That's why we chose Frogfoot/Link Africa. They have a very open model, their prices are cheap and their business philosophy isn't as cutthroat as a certain blue provider *cough*.
Click to expand...

How is 'open' model defined in the contract wording?
What charges do they apply to ISPs providing services on their infrastructure?
 
HunterGR said:
I contacted a provider about a week ago for them to do a feasibility study at our business premises as we want to move to fiber.

The response i got was disturbing to say the least. I was emailed a service application form with a debit order authorization attached to it and stating that once they had received the completed form along with all related company documents they would do a site survey.

I will not mention the provider.
Click to expand...

did you want them to do it for free? maybe charging site surveys help keeps the end costs down.
 
crackersa said:
did you want them to do it for free? maybe charging site surveys help keeps the end costs down.
Click to expand...

Well if they had read the email that was sent to them i was referring to the entire business park, there are 60+ Businesses in the park and that IMHO is surely enough incentive don't you think?
 
Gemaskerde Tuinvurk said:
The last 2 relate more to the fibre to the curb provider, but still... people are running after fibre without thinking twice. Sure it might be cheaper today, but in 5 years time you might be paying x10 what the guys who actually negotiated with the fibre providers are paying.
Click to expand...
So? People are looking for current options and often there aren't many available. Sure if more than one provider is interested it's better to negotiate for the short term. Long term however if you're paying through your nose you can bet other providers will step up and take market share. In 5 years many areas will have multiple options and in something like 10 years most non-rural areas will have.
 
I received a letter from Telkom saying that they're investigating the possibility of bringing fibre to my area. How long should I expect to wait for it to be installed if they decide to go ahead?
 
Gemaskerde Tuinvurk said:
The last 2 relate more to the fibre to the curb provider, but still... people are running after fibre without thinking twice. Sure it might be cheaper today, but in 5 years time you might be paying x10 what the guys who actually negotiated with the fibre providers are paying.
Click to expand...

I went for 50mbs to my apartment with an ISP at a cost of R900 per month (total). The block is not tied in to using their fiber service, nor is a contract mandatory.

Rushing in is not really the right term. With the current landscape it is a good price and I will switch when something better comes along.

Perhaps you are talking about exclusive supply type deals?
 
Bryn said:
I received a letter from Telkom saying that they're investigating the possibility of bringing fibre to my area. How long should I expect to wait for it to be installed if they decide to go ahead?
Click to expand...
Detail plans have been completed. Waiting for strategic and then financial approval... (MP area?)
 
MickeyD said:
Detail plans have been completed. Waiting for strategic and then financial approval... (MP area?)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! And yep - a stone's throw from Grey High. How do you know all this? What sort of time scale are we talking if the approvals happen?
 
Gemaskerde Tuinvurk said:
Ive had a bit of sight of a few Fibre proposals, some very good, and some resembling a grade 3 school project.

I'm absolutely amazed at how people a jumping at the Fibre providers (wont name names, but go read up on their websites) who promise the world, but actually guarantee/agree pretty much nothing in writing or contractual terms. You are putting in Fibre for 20 to 50 years!! Are we not just creating little telkom monopolies all over again!!!

Thinking of things like:
  • Fair usage policy (they either dont have, or its completely pathetic)
  • Service level agreement on infrastructure maintenace - guarantees on outages, KPI monitored, penalties for non-compliance
  • Clarification of ownership of infrastructure - where does it start/end
  • 'Open-ness' of network: some providers say its open, but dont actually describe (in writing) what this means. Or they say 'at some point in future it will be open' - no guarantee
  • Transparent 'inter-connect' rates if the network is open. It doesnt help the network is open, but for all but 1 ISP the interconnect rate is R100 a GB!

The last 2 relate more to the fibre to the curb provider, but still... people are running after fibre without thinking twice. Sure it might be cheaper today, but in 5 years time you might be paying x10 what the guys who actually negotiated with the fibre providers are paying.

Dont get me wrong - I'm not saying all ISPs / infrastructure providers... some are really good.
Click to expand...

What questions would/should I need to ask prospecting fibre providers? We have a few site surveys coming up.
 
jackshiels said:
That's why we chose Frogfoot/Link Africa. They have a very open model, their prices are cheap and their business philosophy isn't as cutthroat as a certain blue provider *cough*.
Click to expand...

How has their service been?
 
Why are you surprised? The average South African don't even know the difference between a search engine, Windows 7 or Microsoft Office.
 
satanboy said:
Why are you surprised? The average South African don't even know the difference between a search engine, Windows 7 or Microsoft Office.
Click to expand...

True that!!!

Askings someone yesterday what browser they are using telling me it's windows 7
 
HunterGR said:
I contacted a provider about a week ago for them to do a feasibility study at our business premises as we want to move to fiber.

The response i got was disturbing to say the least. I was emailed a service application form with a debit order authorization attached to it and stating that once they had received the completed form along with all related company documents they would do a site survey.

I will not mention the provider.
Click to expand...

Happened to us with IS. So guessing its them
 
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