ASASA ruling on Sentech's MyWireless

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donn

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ASASA ruling on MyWireless

Hi all, it's been a while since I wrote. In the meantime I have packed the MyWireless modem in a box and sent it back to my brother. I now have HomeDSL 384, and it works as advertised.

The super-efficient people at the Adevrtising Standards Authority have finally made up their mind about the complaint lodged in June against MyWireless advertising, and the result is not good. Sentech has managed to persuade the ASASA that "broadband" doesn't mean high speed necessarily, but can also mean "always on", which we all know means "always on as long as it isn't raining".

With this ruling MTN and Vodacom can now market GPRS as "broadband" because it's always on too. That would have saved them a lot of money because they could have ignored 3G altogether.

They have sent me a copy of the ruling by FAX for goodness sake. I'll keep an eye on their web site because it will eventually appear there.
 
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Good grief.

How long before other ISPs start to market their 56k offerings as broadband.

A 56k leased line is now broadband? :mad:
 
SO, with that I can cancel my contract because I have a ticket logged for constant disconnections - so they are not providing me with this "broadband" service !
 
OH MY *** WELCOME TO SOUTH AFRICA!

That is truly pathetic and I am disappointed in the ASA. They have failed in their duty this time around and CLEARLY know squat about technology. CLEARLY.

This is ridiculous.

Thanks Donn for posting the message.
 
source:dictionary.com.
broadband
adj
1: of or relating to or being a communications network in which the bandwidth can be divided and shared by multiple simultaneous signals (as for voice or data or video)
2: responding to or operating at a wide band of frequencies; "a broadband antenna"

Isn't that what dictionaries are for?

So -
Can MyWi handle more than one "signal" at the same time? = NO.
Can MyWi recieve/send on more than 1 frequency simultaneously? = NO.
<EDIT>
Um - mayby MyWi is a communications network in which the bandwidth can be divided and shared by multiple simultaneous signals. Many users, one tower, complicated descrambling algorythms - they actually do fall into the definition.
</EDIT>

So - what is the new definition of "broadband"?
 
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Well - according to MS Encata's dictionary the it means:

broadband adj 1. using a wide range of electromagnetic frequencies
2. capable of transferring large amounts of data at high speed

Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2002. © 1993-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

So just check some new SA dictionary and write back
 
So, 9600 baud is broadband - if it is a 24/7 connection!!!

Congrats ASASA for your assistance in building the image of South Africa as a country run by compotent people worthy of investment! :-((((

The Rand deserves to collapse because of investors loosing all confidence in the country.
 
ic said:
Please don't take this the wrong way, but the reason ASA have ruled in favour of Sentech & Telkom is the complaints have not been re-inforced with concrete evidence. So, discuss submitting another complaint, but this time provide the definition of broadband etc, refer to the relevant clauses that have been broken etc. Do this as a joint effort.
Click to expand...

This is the result of layers regulating technology.

If I'm not wrong, they actually had "expert evidence" from ISPA or CUASA to consider on this matter. Anybody willing to refresh my memory?

The VANS aware people reported that the recent ICASA hearings were filled with layers.

I won't be surprised if ICASA makes similar daft rulings!

Any person with the slightest bit of technological functional grey matter in his head would have laughed at the suggestion that a 24/7 connection is "broadband".

My suggestion is to Slashdot this!
 
Broadband

The directorate notes that the respondent [Sentech], ISPA and World Wide Worx are in agreement that there is no uniform or standardised definition of the term "broadband". It appears that the term is meant to differentiate higher speed access services from traditional dial-up services. The other benefit of broadband is the "always on" service offering.

In offering "broadband" access, the respondent is therefore advertising a particular type of service rather than a particular speed. Speed in relation to the internet is subjective and based on end-user perception and customer expectation. The reasonable customer's expectation is that a broadband offering will provide a service that is several times greater in speed than traditional dial-up.

The Directorate notes [Sentech]'s submission that the lack of speed was due to a lack of fair allocation of bandwidth. Since receiving the complaints, the respondent has installed a bandwidth management tool to improve allocation of bandwidth; changes were made on product specifications to better the contention rate; and upgrades have been made on base stations.

Where reference is made to "high speed" in the advertising, the respondent has undertaken to reflect a shared / contended / undedicated service.

The Directorate accepts the above submissions as an undertaking to improve the service offered to be in line with the advertising, and where relevant to clarify the advertising. The undertaking is accepted on condition that the proposed amendments, insofar as they impact on advertising, are affected with immediate effect within the deadlines stipulated by Clause 15.3 of the Procedural Guide.

Clause 4.1 of Section I is not applicable, as there are ex facie no absolute objective criteria for the use of the term "broadband".

... more to follow ...
 
ic said:
Please don't take this the wrong way, but the reason ASA have ruled in favour of Sentech & Telkom is the complaints have not been re-inforced with concrete evidence. So, discuss submitting another complaint, but this time provide the definition of broadband etc, refer to the relevant clauses that have been broken etc. Do this as a joint effort.
Click to expand...

Actually I did. They just ignored my submission. I provided them with Sentech's OWN definition of broadband from one of their press releases. Sentech just pretended like the press release did not exist.

Furthermore, Sentech made a whole load of promises to the ASASA about educating the user and making changes. Pity they haven't updated their web site explanation of what MyWireless is since April last year. So much for those promises.
 
No, they referred it to the ISPA. You can read the ISPA's response on my web site

http://privacy.4mg.com/MyWireless.html

In a nutshell, they said " ... in ISPA's opinion, "broadband Internet access" is any form of Internet access which provides significantly faster access to the internet that traditional dial-up services. In ISPA's view, "significantly faster" means at least four or five times the speed of traditional dial-up services."
 
My original complaint got mixed up with other complaints. In November I added the following:

>>>>>>>>>>

I hereby request that the ASASA make a ruling banning Sentech from using the term "broadband" in relation to describing ANY aspect of their MyWireless service in advertising on its web site or in print.



The ISPA stated:

... in ISPA's opinion, "broadband Internet access" is any form of Internet access which provides significantly faster access to the internet that traditional dial-up services. In ISPA's view, "significantly faster" means at least four or five times the speed of traditional dial-up services.



If the speed of traditional dial-up services is nominally 56kbps, then MyWireless should be a product that is nominally 4-5 times 56kbps, i.e. 224-280kbps.



This automatically excludes their most popular 128kbps service, and makes their more expensive 256k service a borderline case. But the service is "shared", which makes it impossible to obtain the nominal speeds stated on their web site.



Furthermore, taking into account the interview in "Brainstorm" magazine, September 2004 in which Winston Smith is quoted.



>>>



When Sentech first rolled out the offering, the intended contention ratio on any of the three packages was 30, though low numbers of subscribers kept the real ratio down significantly. But, says Smith, "Today [September 2004] the contention ratio is around 15 to 20. We want to go to four."

If it achieves this, Sentech could guarantee minimum throughput, as users have been demanding. But, he points out, doing so is something that "right now, we cannot".

<<<



Thus, even working at an optimal contention ratio of 4, their premium 512k service would only achieve speeds of a quarter of the nominal speed, i.e. much less than the 224-280kbps speeds mentioned by the ISPA.



Further evidence of their service being effectively a quarter of its nominal value is the following quote from the same article:

>>>

It's not a hard cap, so these [monthly] figures are ballpark estimates. But I'd say 10GB on a 128kbps package, 20GB on 256kbps and 40GB on 512kbps," he says.

<<<

To reach the cap, one would have to download 40GB in a month, which would require a connection speed of 128kbps for the entire month. But this limit is applied to their 512kbps service, which again indicates that the 512kbps figure is a nominal maximum, not an achievable figure. This is a bit like selling a car that has a speedometer that goes all the way up to 512km/h, when the car is only capable of a top speed of around 130km/h. Incidentally they are "capping" usage in spite of their statement that there is "No 'capping' on usage" in the "Features" and "FAQ" pages on their web site.



It is therefore clear to me that under no circumstances should MyWireless be permitted to use the term "broadband", either on its web site, or in its advertising materials.



The changes that Sentech undertook in their letter of 5th October are still not reflected on their web site, 6 weeks later. Their "price list" page (http://www.sentech.co.za/index.php?...=18&bid=22&btitle=ProductsAndServices&meid=28) has remained unchanged, despite their undertaking that "the marketing message for each of the MyWireless products (128, 256 and 512) will be changed ... to the specific product offering" which has not been done. In fact there are no pages on their web site that refer to their product offerings that make any distinction between the different offerings.



Until such time as Sentech can demonstrate that their products are capable of providing their users with broadband speeds, they should not be permitted to describe their products as such. And they should not be permitted to describe their MyWireless service in general as broadband, since at least one of the offerings is nowhere near "broadband".



To allow them to do so would be the equivalent of permitting a car manufacturer to describe all of its models as "sports cars" when a sizeable proportion, if not the majority, are not "sports cars" but "economy models".



I therefore request ASASA to make a ruling on this as a matter of urgency, as it has dragged on for months and Sentech has made few if any changes to the information on their web site that describes their service, and they still make use of the phrase "Enter the Sentech Broadband zone" and "up to 512kbps of broadband at your fingertips" which is misleading since they do not allow their users to obtain broadband speeds as defined by the ISPA.






<<<<<<<<<<
 
More of the ruling ....

Speed

The Directorate notes the complainants' submissions that "MyWireless 128, 256 and 512" are not just product names, but are an indication of speed.

ISPA sub,mits that the inclusion of an access speed in the product name seems to create some level of expectation that the access service provided will be of a specific speed. Where the product name includes a speed, it may be appropriate to include clarification that the listed speed is subject to certain restrictions.

The respondent has submitted that it will adapt product names and advertising collateral to exclude speed as a product name.

This undertaking is accepted on condition that the advertising is withdrawn within the deadlines stipulated by Clause 15.3 of the Procedureal guide and is not used again in its current format.

The Directorate notes for the guidance of the respondent [Sentech] that in any explanation of the speed, the concept of "shared" must be communicated unambiguously as internet speeds are highly dependent on the number of users at any given time.

The Directorate also notes the respondent's submissions that it will:
1. Implement product specific messaging in its advertising;
2. Embark on an educational campaign to educate consumers about broadband services.
 
donn said:
The Directorate notes for the guidance of the respondent [Sentech] that in any explanation of the speed, the concept of "shared" must be communicated unambiguously as internet speeds are highly dependent on the number of users at any given time.

The Directorate also notes the respondent's submissions that it will:
1. Implement product specific messaging in its advertising;
2. Embark on an educational campaign to educate consumers about broadband services.
Click to expand...

Sentech promised to do this in July. Then in September. Then Again in October. Still the content on their web site remains unchanged. And the ASASA remains in their idiotic ivory tower. They took so long to make up their minds that the adverts have all run their course.
 
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Let's be generous and give them a month. In the meantime, has anyone EVER managed to get 128kbps out of their MyWireless 128 modem? How long did it last?

Also, will EVERYONE please log a support call every time it rains and the signal goes bang.

Thanks!
Donn
 
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Latest version of Encarta says:

Broadband, communications channel that can support a wide range of frequencies or data rates. A broadband connection can transfer information at a rate of at least 2 megabits per second (mbps). This is almost 40 times faster than a standard narrowband 56 kilobits per second (kbps) modem connection. Some broadband services can even offer 10 mbps connection but, in practice, most transfer information at a rate of around 512 kbps when downloading, and 128 kbps when uploading.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® Premium Suite 2005. © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 
The Asasa ruling

I've got the ruling as a PDF file but unfortunately I can't copy the text. To my mind it's a small victory for us but not a clear one. Asasa has shown it has a complete inability to understand even the vaguest of technical issues. At the same time Sentech has continued to pull the wool over Asasa's eyes by promising all sorts of things that have not happened.

In essence the ruling is that Sentech has volunteered to remove access speed from its product names. Thus they (Sentech and Asasa) agree with us on the complaint about speed.

Asasa is also guilty of fuzzy thinking. in defining broadband Asasa writes:
"It appears that the term is meant to differentiate higher speed access services from traditional dial-up services. The *other* benefit of broadband is the 'always on' service offering.

"In offering 'broadband' access, the respondent is therefore advertising a particular type of service rather than a particular speed." I take this to mean that you should still expect something faster than dial-up.

Sentech has undertaken to modify its advertising and where it uses the term "high speed" to state that it's a shared/contended/undedicated service. The fudge is that there is "no absolute objective criteria for the use of the word 'broadband'." writes Asasa. A handy trick for getting out of ruling that Sentech cannot use broadband in its advertising at least for the 128 package.

In both cases Sentech has volunteered to change its advertising with immediate effect in accordance with Clause 15.2 of the Procedural Guide (you can find it at www.asasa.org.za).
This states:
15.3 Where an advertisement is to be withdrawn in terms of a ruling,
the advertisement shall be withdrawn as soon as possible, but no
later than as set out below:

15.3.1 Newspapers - immediately as deadlines permit

15.3.2 Radio - immediately as deadlines permit

15.3.3 Television - immediately as deadlines permit

15.3.4 Magazines - immediately as deadlines permit

15.3.5 Outdoor - 2 weeks or as determined otherwise by the ASA

15.3.6 Pamphlets, posters & leaflets - as determined by the ASA

15.3.7 Packaging - 3 months or as determined by the ASA.

It doesn't state anything about Web sites 8-( I would suggest a snapshot of the Web site be a good idea and everyone look out for any Sentech advertising. Is there a billboard around? I think I've seen one.

In a way, we've won a victory but it doesn't taste good. I think Sentech has lied to Asasa, though, when it told them it has installed a bandwidth management tool to improve allocation of bandwidth; changes made on product specification to better the contention rate; and upgrades made on base stations.

None of these have made a difference.

If you think the ruling is wrong, you can lodge an appeal:
9.8 Any party who feels aggrieved by a ruling of the Advertising
Standards Committee shall have the right to appeal to the Final
Appeal Committee against such ruling, in accordance with the appeal
procedure set out in this Code. An appeal must be lodged by the
appellant within twenty days from receipt of the ruling.
 
The ruling was made on 7th February, although they met in January. 21 days from 7th Feb is 28th Feb. I say we wait until 25th Feb and if their web site is not satisfactory then lodge a complaint on the weekend.

Alternatively we could wait until the end of March and file a totally new complaint, based on:
their unqualified "always-on" assertion
their unqualified "up to 512kbs Broadband connection"
their claim of the "Sentech Broadband Zone"
the completely vague and unspecific use of the word "sharing".

When they say that you can get a theoretical 512kbps speed on their product, and then only deliver 1% of that, is it misleading advertising or not?

If 1% is, is 5%? If 5% is, then what about 10%, 40%, 80% ??
 
The logical appeal would be against the "what constitutes broadband" ruling.

It appears that only the person who laid the original complaint can appeal, and if this person does not appeal the broadband ruling, this will stand for ever. Lawyers love previous rulings "In 1867 it was ruled that a line which is allways available for sending morse code messages, could constitute broadband, and therefore, taking into account the technological advances made and implemented by the telcoms giant Telkom, in 2005..."

The process was so slow that many international service providers actually upped the broadband speeds in the mean time. So Telkom ADSL is effectively not broadband anymore
 
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