iBurst network problems go beyond data centre issues

You should have seen it coming and switched from the mafia style run company,geez they apparently threatened an icasa counselor over this why did you still persevere with this route.Poor planning on your part.

Even if you did not hear about the councilor you're just pissed because your connection was cut but guess what, iburst is breaking perfectly legitimate laws and icasa is in the right in this case.If the law was stupid or oppressive etc then maybe you had a case to cry out but the laws are pretty good in this regard and our spectrum is a valuable resource that needs to be safe guarded.

You can go cry to iburst actually and blame them for not settling with icasa(they had months to sort this out now),hopefully they wont send anyone to take you for a drive,if Joseph is to be believed!

So all WBS/Broadlink/iBurst customers should find an alternative provider because of unsubstantiated claims?
Hell, that seems like an easy way to take out your competitors.

What is your experience with this organisation? I see you make reference to iBurst only. WBS itself is not iBurst only. Consider that 75% of Broadlink's network is down in Gauteng. These are business customers, not iBurst consumers trying to download linux iso's.

That is money lost by innocent parties in Africa's largest economy.
Now tell me again that what ICASA did is in the interests of the country and the economy.

Nobody is condoning the alleged illegal activity of WBS, but part of ICASA's mandate is protecting the businesses and consumers of the country. Prove your claim, then set out a plan of action. Give people proper warning.

You possibly had a bad experience with the company (Assuming iBurst wireless?). Get over it, and think of the bigger picture. Also, just because Joseph says someone assaulted him, doesn't make it fact. Prove it, then deal with it.
 
You should have seen it coming and switched from the mafia style run company,geez they apparently threatened an icasa counselor over this why did you still persevere with this route.Poor planning on your part.

Even if you did not hear about the councilor you're just pissed because your connection was cut but guess what, iburst is breaking perfectly legitimate laws and icasa is in the right in this case.If the law was stupid or oppressive etc then maybe you had a case to cry out but the laws are pretty good in this regard and our spectrum is a valuable resource that needs to be safe guarded.

You can go cry to iburst actually and blame them for not settling with icasa(they had months to sort this out now),hopefully they wont send anyone to take you for a drive,if Joseph is to be believed!

There was nothing preventing ICASA from issuing a press release or something warning consumers in advance. I have no particular love for iBurst, but the bigger picture is that thousands rely on their service, so it would just be common decency to inform the public that a dispute has come to a head and within x days period iBurst would be shut down. In fact, had they taken that approach, ICASA would probably have achieved a lot more than merely shutting them down for a few hours.

Blaming the consumer seems like an odd approach. You can't realistically expect consumers to make a judgement about the internal private operations of a company, let alone be able to forecast future events or derive an opinion that iBurst is a "mafia" style company based on an allegation in the press.
 
part of ICASA's mandate is protecting the businesses and consumers of the country. Prove your claim, then set out a plan of action. Give people proper warning.

The key word there is "PART" the other parts are regulation and making sure companies comply with the law,this has been news for quite some time now the dispute between iburst and icasa and iburst keeps on denying it yet has not resolved it until eventually they are accused of having kidnapped a counselor and now this,seems like they are lying to their customers.

You possibly had a bad experience with the company (Assuming iBurst wireless?). Get over it, and think of the bigger picture. Also, just because Joseph says someone assaulted him, doesn't make it fact. Prove it, then deal with it.

Nope I don't hold resentment, I have had bad dealings with telkom in the past but today when I am happy with their service I openly compliment them here on the forum,infact i just praised their isp a few hours ago on mybb.But as for iburst I have never used them and have no qualm with them it just seems from a neutral perspective that its getting from bad to worse and they are lying to their customers.

As for Joseph's story obviously I cant prove it and neither can Joseph or he would've taken them to court by now but the point is why does iburst repeatedly tell its clients there is no icasa issue or outstanding fees and yet icasa has actually confiscated equipment and they still lie?!!!Thats just pathetic,all businesses have problems even mine but I never lie to my customers.

Blaming the consumer seems like an odd approach. You can't realistically expect consumers to make a judgement about the internal private operations of a company, let alone be able to forecast future events or derive an opinion that iBurst is a "mafia" style company based on an allegation in the press.

I'm not blaming the consumer if anything I'm just saying the writing was on the wall for months now and if i were with iburst an alarm bell or two would have been going on by now surely?

Either way the blame lies directly with iburst for one simple reason,they continue to lie to their customers,thats frankly pathetic.If they have a problem with icasa why not just say it?At least your customers know whats going on then.
 
So all WBS/Broadlink/iBurst customers should find an alternative provider because of unsubstantiated claims?
Hell, that seems like an easy way to take out your competitors.

What is your experience with this organisation? I see you make reference to iBurst only. WBS itself is not iBurst only. Consider that 75% of Broadlink's network is down in Gauteng. These are business customers, not iBurst consumers trying to download linux iso's.

That is money lost by innocent parties in Africa's largest economy.
Now tell me again that what ICASA did is in the interests of the country and the economy.

Nobody is condoning the alleged illegal activity of WBS, but part of ICASA's mandate is protecting the businesses and consumers of the country. Prove your claim, then set out a plan of action. Give people proper warning.

You possibly had a bad experience with the company (Assuming iBurst wireless?). Get over it, and think of the bigger picture. Also, just because Joseph says someone assaulted him, doesn't make it fact. Prove it, then deal with it.

There was nothing preventing ICASA from issuing a press release or something warning consumers in advance. I have no particular love for iBurst, but the bigger picture is that thousands rely on their service, so it would just be common decency to inform the public that a dispute has come to a head and within x days period iBurst would be shut down. In fact, had they taken that approach, ICASA would probably have achieved a lot more than merely shutting them down for a few hours.

Blaming the consumer seems like an odd approach. You can't realistically expect consumers to make a judgement about the internal private operations of a company, let alone be able to forecast future events or derive an opinion that iBurst is a "mafia" style company based on an allegation in the press.
Exactly my point.
ICASA have not acted as a I expect a regulator should. They must have known the impact of their actions, and they could not be bothered to warn the public before, or even issue a press statement just after having "bust" iBurst. Even now a day later, a lot of iBurst customers are completely in the dark as to why they are experiencing issues.

BTW, I do not use iBurst at all, the outage affected some of my clients though.
 
I see ITweb have posted an article now.
http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62928:Broadlink-scrambles-to-restore-connectivity

Oh and of course "ITWeb was promised comment from the regulator this morning, but this did not materialise."

The amazing thing is the scarcity of news articles around this, even a day later, just the post on MyBB, and this one on Techcentral http://www.techcentral.co.za/icasa-moves-against-iburst-parent/39352/

Perhaps MyBB can get comment from ICASA?
 
The fee dispute between WBS and ICASA dates back to around April 2010. About a year ago, WBS owed ICASA R24 million for microwave links it had set up, without informing the regulator. At that stage, it had applied for some of the links to be licensed, but ICASA refused to sanction the use of spectrum until WBS paid the outstanding fees.

So if we presume they did not write a cheque for 24 million, how are they able to restore their services ?
 
The key word there is "PART" the other parts are regulation and making sure companies comply with the law,this has been news for quite some time now the dispute between iburst and icasa and iburst keeps on denying it yet has not resolved it until eventually they are accused of having kidnapped a counselor and now this,seems like they are lying to their customers.

You have not answered the question - Was ICASA's heavy handed approach in the interests of the innocent customers of iBurst/WBS/Broadlink?


Nope I don't hold resentment, I have had bad dealings with telkom in the past but today when I am happy with their service I openly compliment them here on the forum,infact i just praised their isp a few hours ago on mybb.But as for iburst I have never used them and have no qualm with them it just seems from a neutral perspective that its getting from bad to worse and they are lying to their customers.

Are you sure it is not ICASA lying to the public? Just saying, you seem to base your broad claims on speculation.
How much do you actually know about the organisation, other than speculation? How much do you know about the network of the company, other than what you have read in the iBurst wireless forums?

As for Joseph's story obviously I cant prove it and neither can Joseph or he would've taken them to court by now but the point is why does iburst repeatedly tell its clients there is no icasa issue or outstanding fees and yet icasa has actually confiscated equipment and they still lie?!!!Thats just pathetic,all businesses have problems even mine but I never lie to my customers.

So you say if there was proof, he would have taken them to court, yet WBS has taken Joseph to court. Based on your thinking, that means WBS is right. Obviously not - nothing has been proven yet.
You choose to believe an organisation (ICASA) which has a ridiculously shoddy past, and proven incompetence, based on claims which have not been tested by proper legal process.

I'm not blaming the consumer if anything I'm just saying the writing was on the wall for months now and if i were with iburst an alarm bell or two would have been going on by now surely?

Either way the blame lies directly with iburst for one simple reason,they continue to lie to their customers,thats frankly pathetic.If they have a problem with icasa why not just say it?At least your customers know whats going on then.

Again, there is no proof (yet?) that WBS is lying. Until there is proof, ICASA has inconvenienced thousands of organisations in Africa's largest economy, and should have handled this better.
Saying that the "writing was on the wall" is all based on speculation. That you think you would have done something if you were a customer of WBS shows what? That you have bragging rights now because you weren't affected?
Bigger picture is more important than your gloating...
 
So the problem was really a power failure, nothing to do with equipment being removed.
LOL - perhaps if the respective organisations, both ICASA and WBS would be kind enough to issue a press release on the issue?

It seems both don't give a ... about being open on the issue.
 
Wait!!!

Everything is speculation. A lot of posts here with this and that opinion.....

WBS or ICASA could be in the wrong here. No one is commenting, so we don't know.

Speculating that Joseph pulled the wire or the cleaner or that ICASA just stepped in and pulled the equipment...... All speculation....
 
LOL - perhaps if the respective organisations, both ICASA and WBS would be kind enough to issue a press release on the issue?

It seems both don't give a ... about being open on the issue.

So far that seems to be the case but previously they stated they had no outstanding fees with ICASA and sin_x seems to be very emotional about it lol you guys decide from his multi-quoted defensive response for iburst,whats up with that.

Frankly I'm just happy I don't support them,its mainly because i cant be bothered being locked down due to expensive equipment costs and this whole fiasco has just reaffirmed my decision,I'm not gloating I'm stating why I made this choice.I hope ICASA finally gets some teeth.

ICASA next up please get back that wasted spectrum from sentech,the real networks in South Africa need it.
 
Wait!!!

Everything is speculation. A lot of posts here with this and that opinion.....

WBS or ICASA could be in the wrong here. No one is commenting, so we don't know.

Speculating that Joseph pulled the wire or the cleaner or that ICASA just stepped in and pulled the equipment...... All speculation....

Good point,will be interesting to hear some facts instead,lets wait and see then....
 
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