Looks like January does mean March (or April ?)
I also received the Vuma courtesy visit and booklet in the first half of Dec 2017 and at that point additionally signed up for the “pay Vumatel an extra R1710 and we will bring the line right into your home to speed things up for the eventual isp you choose” option - can anyone explain to us exactly what this entails and whether it really speeds things up ?
So, at abovementioned Dec visit, Vumaguy explained that nothing would be happening during their 15 Dec to 15 Jan shutdown, but by about 21 Jan the vumatel portapotty appeared on the veld opposite the Portofino complex (Cnr Sering and Paarl St), the streetlamp that had been knocked over while trucking in their reels of fibre had impressively been replaced within 1 day, and Portofino’s install was apparently complete within 1 week.
Soon afterwards, the characteristic purple netting started appearing as the fibre lines started crossing Rothschild Blvd and appearing on each street corner on La Provence, and from there progressing up Akademie, Kehrweder and all the General names.
(It was surprising, also to people on the neighbourhood Whatsapp group, that the area previously covered by Openserve, was again being covered by Vuma, giving some people a choice between 2 providers).
On the other side, progress was simultaneously being made to cross Rothschild in the viscinity of the BP garage and to enter the Fontaine Bleu complex, and also progress around the corner of Malmesbury Rd past the primary school.
The way Vuma tunneled the fibre lines underneath some driveways (upto 15 metres wide and more) using air compressors without rupturing the tar or paving was truly impressive. (I am guessing this is because we have houses built on sand and that clay and loam would offer too much resistance, necessitating trenching rather than tunneling)
In the meanwhile, the teams have installed black plastic boxes flat in the lawn of each residence, other teams have been back to cover up trenching and fix paving, and I’m guessing teams attending to final rehabilitation of lawns, shrubs and getting everything back to “as it was” will be back a month or so after everything has gone live.
This morning there was splicing going on in no less than 4 locations: on the main fibre line entering Welgelegen Villas on La Provence, Vuma and subcontractors were busy splicing under a gazebo; at the corner of La Provence and Pedophile St (Gert van Rooyen), 2 Vuma vehicles were parked - their occupants were busy tying into the white Openserve box on that corner; and closer to Giel Basson 2 Openserve bakkies were parked and a Corline bakkie a little further up.
The isp’s are clamouring for everyone’s business, with Chameleon Fibre doing the door-to-door today, and OpticNetworks, Liquid Telecom (Neotel Connect), Cell-C Fibre and M-Web Fibre all being a little late to the party while most residents have already pre-ordered with Afrihost, Axxess, Vox Telecom, Web Africa, Cool ideas and ISPafrika between 6 months and a year ago.
Can anyone enlighten us what happens next and what the timelines are ?
I am guessing none of the streets are “lit up” at this point and that the complexes will be first, after Vumatel tests the splicing and commissions first ?
When will one know when to contact the isp you have pre-ordered with to come and do an installation, or will it once again be a case of “don’t phone us, we’ll phone you” ?
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