iBurst going bust?

yeah they pretty much screwed it up this last year....they can't compete with any other ISP at the moment...

ps - that's an old article though...
 
iBurst can't compete on several fronts:

1) Technology - the iBurst wireless protocol (HC-SDMA) is starting to look its age. Next to 3G, Wimax and LTE it's ridiculously slow. Fine for now, but how are they going to scale in the future?

2) Availability - Vodacom and MTN have extensive 3G networks across the country. iBurst's coverage is pitiful compared to this.

3) Price - iBurst competes, barely, with Vodacom and MTN on this issue, but why would you pay for iBurst taking in consideration points 1 and 2 above? Not to mention extensive billing and accounts issues, which by all accounts have all but wiped out iBurst's reputation in the marketplace.
 
MagicDude4Eva said:
story on the street has it, that half the company is getting retrenched and some buy-out is imminent. anyone new about this?

Last thing I read about this was this: http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5170379
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As communicated here and in the press over the last 3 months, there is a (still ongoing) restructure in progress. Some parts of the business are completed and others must still start.

No buy-outs on the cards. (But if you've got a BIG chequebook, give me a shout! ;))
 
jannievanzyl said:
As communicated here and in the press over the last 3 months, there is a (still ongoing) restructure in progress. Some parts of the business are completed and others must still start.

No buy-outs on the cards. (But if you've got a BIG chequebook, give me a shout! ;))
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"restructured in progress" don't you mean "retrenching in progress" ;) :p
 
jannievanzyl said:
As communicated here and in the press over the last 3 months, there is a (still ongoing) restructure in progress. Some parts of the business are completed and others must still start.

No buy-outs on the cards. (But if you've got a BIG chequebook, give me a shout! ;))
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will wait with my cheque-book until the retrenchment packages have been paid out, will then be a bit cheaper ;-).

I hope it does not come to this though - is a really crap-time (2 months before x-mas) for employees to be retrenched. Then again the competition is hiring, so some people might just be in luck after all.

At least the Wimax spectrum is a valuable asset and if it was not for the brand dilution and the reliance of some key staff to provide customer service this would not have gotten that far.

No arguing that by trimming 80-100 staff will probably save the company 4-5 bar per month.
 
I would love to see who would buy iBurst with it's old, Slow, dead Technology :D :D :D

I'm betting the company will get more and more worthless as technology moves on, until it completely liquidates into some sticky orange mush :erm:

If seacom DOES take effect, it's over china's :(
 
I heard a while (more than a month already) back on 702 that iburst was "restructuring".
 
fixx said:
I heard a while (more than a month already) back on 702 that iburst was "restructuring".
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Yup, that was me. :)

Unfortunately, these restructures are not simple processes in SA and we always need to make sure all legal aspects are fully dealt with. So it does tend to extend the process.
 
After personally having the most horrific experience with iBurst, I wouldn't be surprised to see that they went bang.
 
The retrenchments have started

So that it is official that people have gotten their retrenchment letters, makes me wonder how iBurst will reposition itself to remain in the market. Simply reducing staff to curb cost, without any new production placement or pricing adjustments will just be a bandaid and not really solve the company's problems.

All products are overpriced and not competitive. iBurst network itself is unreliable, network speed has not improved in the last 4 years. Hardly anyone worldwide uses this aged technology anymore.

Judging from HelloPeter (http://www.hellopeter.com/search_results.php?search=iburst), customer satisfaction and service does speak for itself (80 complaints alone for October). HelloPeter is not necessarily a good reflection of this, since people will just not bother anymore.

Company will become niche for the poor souls who are not able to get 3G/Neotel, Wimax or ADSL coverage.

Even if core-staff remains, it is just a matter of time until skilled people leave, throwing the company into the abyss of niche players.
 
They are restructuring simply to payout Jannie's Xmas bonus, otherwise he will leave if the company can't afford his bonus. :rolleyes:
 
MagicDude4Eva said:
Company will become niche for the poor souls who are not able to get 3G/Neotel, Wimax or ADSL coverage.
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Shame, to think those people actually exist in the 21st century. Funnily enough, I was one of those people a little while ago- had to be content with dial-up:sick:
 
Kaufies said:
Shame, to think those people actually exist in the 21st century. Funnily enough, I was one of those people a little while ago- had to be content with dial-up:sick:
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Agreed. As much as people complain about Telkom - if you had ever been with iBurst and faced lack of customer service, billing issues, account deactivations, ridiculous debit orders and speeds of 40KB/sec, you would understand peoples frustration.

What I don't find acceptable is that a company gets run in the ground over years without ever really posting a net-profit and when it comes to crunch time, people get fired two months away from X-mas without a positive lookout to find another job during this time as businesses are starting to wind down.

Not just specific to iBurst, but this type of behaviour seriously questions a company's integrity (certainly sending a wrong message to the remaining staff and definitely not a company one should want to work for).
 
MagicDude4Eva said:
So that it is official that people have gotten their retrenchment letters, makes me wonder how iBurst will reposition itself to remain in the market. Simply reducing staff to curb cost, without any new production placement or pricing adjustments will just be a bandaid and not really solve the company's problems.
Click to expand...

MagicDude4Eva said:
What I don't find acceptable is that a company gets run in the ground over years without ever really posting a net-profit and when it comes to crunch time, people get fired two months away from X-mas without a positive lookout to find another job during this time as businesses are starting to wind down.

Not just specific to iBurst, but this type of behaviour seriously questions a company's integrity (certainly sending a wrong message to the remaining staff and definitely not a company one should want to work for).
Click to expand...
Not sure how you came up with this, but it is incorrect. No-one at iBurst received retrenchement letters and the last person I know who got fired was a call centre agent who did not return calls to a subscriber.
 
jannievanzyl said:
Not sure how you came up with this, but it is incorrect. No-one at iBurst received retrenchement letters and the last person I know who got fired was a call centre agent who did not return calls to a subscriber.
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perhaps I was not accurate on this: voluntary retrenchments offered now with forced retrenchments coming up in next 1-2 weeks. better? ;)
 
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