Fibre: Secunda Community

I got 2 contracts signed and send.
The rest has " fear of failure" since I can not give a trenching date not one of connection establishment. So the word of mouth effectively failed, in my area of influence. How many times will this happen before this becomes the norm.
123net, your resilience will be our loss in time, yours in revenue and maybe in investors too?
We need a new game plan, get everyone exited again, win new members. Swa, this is still the best solution for me. I want this to succeed. Put your mind to it, help me in this game plan ...
 
@Julzblade, I also WANT this to succeed, no matter what some may think. This is why I asked all the questions when people were just thinking I was difficult. The free option has disappeared from their website. That they now require 500 people to sign contracts raises my suspicion that Secunda was an aberration on their system they didn't expect. An area the size of Secunda would normally require at least 1500 signups if only a third of the people sign.

I still say they should ditch Google maps. It's useless and they can go with a proper logistics company that would help them work out the requirements for each area. Then state those requirements upfront. Exactly how many people (not signups) they require to take the service. But only 123Net can do that.

What I don't get is that they now want 500 people before doing any work. So what exactly have they done in the 5 months it took them to send out contracts? Will it take them another 6 months to complete it? MTN does a community in two stages. In 3 months half the community is already connected. In another 2-3 months the other half.
 
@Swa. Agreed. This is a Frustrating predicament. But it is their tune we have to dance to. Any ideas on getting the other 380 contracts signed without official advertisement? Should we start paying for this ourselfs? Is this even ethical?
@123net, you need to revise your statements and formulate a workable approach towards the community. Word of mouth works against you. You are loosing trust and goodwill before you even started.
 
Swa said:
@Julzblade, I also WANT this to succeed, no matter what some may think. This is why I asked all the questions when people were just thinking I was difficult. The free option has disappeared from their website. That they now require 500 people to sign contracts raises my suspicion that Secunda was an aberration on their system they didn't expect. An area the size of Secunda would normally require at least 1500 signups if only a third of the people sign.
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Not to be nasty but that was always too good to be true.
 
No, it is not a case of to good to be true. It is just a few obstacles to break through. Phase 2 roll-out customers will know nothing of this. We are facing the growing pains, because we are first.
 
Swa said:
How do you reckon that? I think most will go with the 10Mbps local.
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That is what I said / meant...
I would have liked to have the 100Mbps, but that will cost the other arm. I am not a fan of sraw drinks...
 
im sure the team from 123net dont know what to say here so they rather just say nothing
 
MickeyD said:
Not to be nasty but that was always too good to be true.
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How so? There is a good business case of it getting enough people on board to pay for the construction costs of the network. Without it there's less customers making the construction costs more. The problem seems to be with their investor who can't see this reasoning.

But as I said I'll be happy to continue paying R150/month for it or R200 for 5/5 Mbps.
 
Swa said:
How so? There is a good business case of it getting enough people on board to pay for the construction costs of the network. Without it there's less customers making the construction costs more. The problem seems to be with their investor who can't see this reasoning.

But as I said I'll be happy to continue paying R150/month for it or R200 for 5/5 Mbps.
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Their investor is most probably a bank that very aware of the risks involved. More pre-build signups gives them more leverage to obtain more financing from said bank. Vicious circle...
 
Here's my suggestion. Have the 5/1 Mbps for R150/month or R3600 once off for 2 years and thereafter it's R150/month. If people don't pay that you leave all the equipment but the service reverts to basic speeds such as 1/1 Mbps and there's no free support so if damage occurs they have to pay for it. Then have other options as well from 5/5 Mbps for R200.
 
MickeyD said:
Their investor is most probably a bank that very aware of the risks involved. More pre-build signups gives them more leverage to obtain more financing from said bank. Vicious circle...
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Don't think so. They've stated it to be a foreign investor which seems to have a rather big say in the business.
 
Swa said:
Don't think so. They've stated it to be a foreign investor which seems to have a rather big say in the business.
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watch one season of sharks... and you will realize how investors work..how they have people by the balls.
 
123NET fibre Team said:
Sorry guys, but this is the information that has just been handed to me. Different towns & suburbs of differing sizes and populations will always potentially have different requirements as feasibility will always differ. We need at least 300 contracts from Weltevreden Park (+-450 signups) and 500 contracts from Secunda (+-600 signups). Our costs to deploy fibre and especially our monthly costs for these two areas will be vastly different. We are to a certain extent bound by our overseas investors' requirements and conditions and have to comply :(

This does not mean that all is lost! We are contacting signups to encourage them to sign up and Kalin will attend to the contract queries as soon as he can. He is under an insane amount of pressure and stress at the moment and is flying to Bulgaria tonight to try and sort a lot of things out.
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To be honest this statement bothered me and it was only after thinking about it for a while that it struck me what is really is going on here.

Back when Secunda first started the sign up process, the requirement was 300. Then Secunda was the only area out of all the listed areas on the 123Net website that was interested. Now that Roodepoort (Weltevreden park) and Cape Town (Blouberg etc) have enough interest Secunda is taking the back seat because there is higher earning potential. Basically 123Net doesnt have enough workforce or capital to deploy at all these areas at the same time and the area with the most signed contracts will bring the most cash.

From what I can see Weltevreden isnt signing up as fast as us but nothing is said about Blouberg. If 500 is the targeted contracts for Secunda then Blouberg probably has 400 odd signed contracts and for 123Net to give Secunda priority will have to have more signed contracts.

Dishonourable I tell you. Secunda was first.

The different running cost story is nonsense, the only additional costs would be for the use of bandwidth from secunda to JHB along the N17. That additional cost will always be off set by the cost to customer which is either adapted by area or averaged out over all subscribers. The installation of infrastructure in the area, yes, will require a certain amount of sign ups but why should that be different than for other areas like weltevreden?

I wonder if Cell phone networks would have materialised if subscribers had to sign contracts before the network was even built? Come on 123Net you got to give a little to get a lot - you will not be the only ISP in Secunda with Fibre forever so strike now while the iron is not completely cold.
 
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If you signed a contract already, just send them a letter/email saying that the service is not working and that if they dont rectify the issue within 30 days as per contract they must consider the contract void.
 
Being new to the area (Sunninghill) I was ecstatic today when I received a flyer right outside my complex from Greencom about Fibre to home. Anyone ever heard of them? The deals seem amazing!
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This is from the Greencom thread. 123Net didnt even have the decency to market what-so-ever.
 
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