CellC Interconnection to blame for Vodacom Outage

Vodacom should implement some fault tolerance. It's not good that interconnect data from a small network like cell c can bring a big powerful 20 million user network to it's knees.
 
Great, so once again consumers get shafted while the big boys quarrel. They love to make it our problem don't they? And how childish is it of Vodacom to point the finger like a five year old child?

Never mind though - remember the last nationwide Vodacom outage in March? Nobody could make calls for most of the day, yet by the following day Vodacom had issued so much spin that the mainstream papers were reporting that Vodacom had experienced a "minor" problem that only affected 5% of its subscribers.

So, by tomorrow morning this will never have happened.
 
garp said:
Never mind though - remember the last nationwide Vodacom outage in March? Nobody could make calls for most of the day, yet by the following day Vodacom had issued so much spin that the mainstream papers were reporting that Vodacom had experienced a "minor" problem that only affected 5% of its subscribers.
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As someone obviously in the know, exactly what percentage was affected? Please share your detailed, inside knowledge.
 
from their statement, it seems everyone (100%) were affected
 
I don't know why your bitching and moaning vodacom obviously need to take care of their own customers first and if cutting off cellc todo it is the way to "fix" the problem so be it.
 
Um, being able to phone Cell C users (and receive calls from them) IS PART OF the "Vodacom service" that we pay for as their customers. If they cut them off, it's still broken ... just "less" broken.
 
garp said:
Vodacom had experienced a "minor" problem that only affected 5% of its subscribers.
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Heh, well if on average only 5% of subscribers use the network over a several hour period, then only those 5% would have been "affected", haha! (Spin spin spin ..)
 
All I can say VC is too damn quick to point finger, they are milking 20 million customers a month surely they can sort the network out.
 
I wonder how many people outside of the main towns where there's only VC coverage (and no Cell C) have now been cut off due to the interconnection termination.

Why can't the networks have an agreement in place to allow for "emergency roaming" during times like these? VC would have been much better off allowing their customers to roam on MTN and just refund MTN for all the calls made than cutting people of like this.

Anywayz, just watch how this is going to spark an "increase in subscriber numbers" for MTN as VC customers buy "back-up simcards" :)
 
Once people need to start registering and number portability comes into effect then we should have a true estimate of how many subscribers there are. Then I'd like to see these operators brag about penetration rates, where for once operators will have to actually start working to retain customers, either by lowering prices or by providing some kind of service level guarantee. If ICASA implements their draft mobile regulations, especially regarding interconnect rates, it only adds to their woes.

MTN may not have the best of helpdesks, but in 6 years with them I've never experienced the network failing. And there's decent coverage wherever you go. The question is do you as a consumer rather prefer a good helpdesk with poor network service, or an average helpdesk with good network service. The point is if a network reliably provides the service that you pay for, there's no need to care what their helpdesk is like. And this has not been the first time that their network has gone down. I can only imagine the millions in interconnect fees that Vodacom would have made from people initially calling their helpdesks enquiring as to what was wrong with the network.
 
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Gambit said:
Vodacom should implement some fault tolerance.
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Actually they do ... they use HP Tandem NonStop servers for their call control.

These specialized computers are designed for fault tolerance and 24x7 operation and is also used by most of the local banks and the S.A Reserve Bank to ensure that your money goes uninterrupted to where it is supposed to every millisecond of the day.

Typically uptimes are measured in decades.

http://h20223.www2.hp.com/nonstopcomputing/cache/76385-0-0-0-121.aspx
 
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Hi folks

I must at give Vodacom some credit regarding the latest network outage…at least from a media perspective. The previous outage was shrouded in mystery and although they had a good idea of what the problem was they did not want to divulge any information. They tried to smooth talk the public and their customers and it drew criticism from many quarters, including Moneyweb’s rather accurate view on proceedings: http://www.moneyweb.co.za/blogs/clive_simpkins/160204.htm

They learned from their mistakes and this time we received a notice about the cause of the problem with an hour after the problem was solved. It was also not covered in marketing talk which is refreshing (many times these companies think that a network outage is a great time to let people know how great they are :D).

Regards,

RPM
 
rpm said:
The previous outage was shrouded in mystery and although they had a good idea of what the problem was they did not want to divulge any information.
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But last time they didn't have anyone to blame it on, except themselves :rolleyes:
 
Vodacom downtime

When I need to make a call, thats just it!! I need to get talking... So Vodacom get your darn act together and sort this problem out, what the heck am I paying you for, you claim Cell C is the problem well get them off your network, a massive company like Vodacom and I get the message" Network busy" ?????.
See to it Vodacom:
 
tibby.dude said:
Actually they do ... they use HP Tandem NonStop servers for their call control.

These specialized computers are designed for fault tolerance and 24x7 operation and is also used by most of the local banks and the S.A Reserve Bank to ensure that your money goes uninterrupted to where it is supposed to every millisecond of the day.

Typically uptimes are measured in decades.

http://h20223.www2.hp.com/nonstopcomputing/cache/76385-0-0-0-121.aspx
Click to expand...
Server redundancy is very good and is a must for mission critical systems but when all hardware is working 100% and software screws up then most of the time it does not help. From their execuse it sounds to me like they need error handling in their software.
 
Vodacom Outage

Just out of interest - I am a CellC subscriber (simply because I have a friend who matched my cell number to my name).

At work in Pinelands, Cape Town (I am a surgeon), I have very little CellC coverage, so I manually switch to Vodacom.
On Friday, I could not make calls. I switched back to CellC as my home network and could make calls again - but not to Vodacom subscribers.

The last bit of info is important, as I had a patient who was a Vodacom subscriber (only contact number; based in Stellenbosch) that I needed to get it contact with urgently. No go....

The idea of network roaming in times of emergency is a brilliant suggestion, but I don't see it being implemented in SA.
 
112 would have worked, does not even require a SIM card to work and should have used MTN if Vodacom was dead.
 
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