Soft issues

I don't think Neotel are doing well at all. They've been plagued with complaints of disconnect issues and low speeds since February and this "soft" issue is just adding to what is already a nightmare for Neotel consumers.

EDIT: Based on the fact that they won't release the number of consumers they have I'm guessing their sign up rate has dropped drastically. I for one am telling anyone who asks me about Neotel not to join until I see that their disconnect and low speed problems are sorted out.
 
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i'll say it, I told you so

i think that until such time as they resolve these "soft" issues, their network & service offering is going to continue to struggle to grow
 
I wonder why Neotel hasn't sued the government yet for pulling the rug out from under them. They were promised an exclusive second network operator license for which they paid an exorbitant fee (R100 million?). That has now been undermined by all the IECNS license holders being able to build their own networks. Then they were promised more existing infrastructure (transtel and eskom infrastructure) which was then taken away and given to Infraco. If it was me I would be suing the government for massive misrepresentation and reversal of fees paid.
 
I just wish this company would disappear! It would be far easier for this to get lost from the map than Telkom, and it would be far easier for Telkom to make a diffirance than this Orange beast.

Vodacom and MTN have a network far superior to the Orange beast so we don't need another wireless provider. They paid to get a license to compete with Telkom and not MTN and VC, so I whish they are make use of their license of ICASA take it away and award it to another company that really want to use it.
 
Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel Neotel :mad: :mad:
 
Yet again, this is exactly why our government chose this pathetic indian company to create our 2nd fixed line network... They knew if they had their way with not letting Seacom land, the ECN licenses, and the Vodacom deal, the situation would be exactly the same as before!

This stupid half assed company has done absolutely nothing to further broadband in this country, all they have done is taken the pressure off the government to provide "competition" which as a result has just slowed things down. Go back to india you rubbish! :mad:
 
I requested service from Neotel over a year ago. In that time, I was using a messed up HTC Mteor as my HSDPA modem until I could get Neotel. After a year, they stopped responding to my emails when I asked them if I have coverage yet.

Now, I have invested R3100 in a B970 HSDPA router and will obviously use Vodacom HSDPA for at least the next two years.

So there, Neotel has lost another customer...
 
cookiemonster said:
Yet again, this is exactly why our government chose this pathetic indian company to create our 2nd fixed line network... They knew if they had their way with not letting Seacom land, the ECN licenses, and the Vodacom deal, the situation would be exactly the same as before!

This stupid half assed company has done absolutely nothing to further broadband in this country, all they have done is taken the pressure off the government to provide "competition" which as a result has just slowed things down. Go back to india you rubbish! :mad:
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That's not true, I agree they have offered nothing to the consumer however they have been making lots of deals with corporate companies. Quite frankly it makes more business sense and the SNO is a business after all.

If i was in their shoes I would do the same focus on what brings in huge amounts of cash with relatively small expenditure. Once I was secure I would start to invest in infrastructure and long term investment ie, the home user and small business.

People are impatient, go build your own network and see how expensive it is.
 
freeek said:
That's not true, I agree they have offered nothing to the consumer however they have been making lots of deals with corporate companies. Quite frankly it makes more business sense and the SNO is a business after all.

If i was in their shoes I would do the same focus on what brings in huge amounts of cash with relatively small expenditure. Once I was secure I would start to invest in infrastructure and long term investment ie, the home user and small business.

People are impatient, go build your own network and see how expensive it is.
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Yes, they may have offered something to the corporate sector. But judging how they operate and run their business, if a more worthy competitor was introduced surely these corporates would have had even better deals, and promises to consumers would have been kept? Are there any corporates that use Neotel exclusively yet?

We have only lost our patience because we have been promised so much! Yes, building a network is expensive. That is exactly why it has to be managed properly. Expenses aren't the reason for delays, it is purely a lack of planning.
 
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Garyvdh said:
I wonder why Neotel hasn't sued the government yet for pulling the rug out from under them. They were promised an exclusive second network operator license for which they paid an exorbitant fee (R100 million?). That has now been undermined by all the IECNS license holders being able to build their own networks. Then they were promised more existing infrastructure (transtel and eskom infrastructure) which was then taken away and given to Infraco. If it was me I would be suing the government for massive misrepresentation and reversal of fees paid.
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In my opinion Neotel was supposed to provide a FIXED line solution similar to how Telkom operates. They have opted for a Wireless "fixed line" solution and this imo is where the big mistake is/was made. Now Neotel fall into the same bracket as Vodacom, Mtn, CellC with network instability and disconnects being the order of the day and frightening off potential clients.
 
Garyvdh said:
I wonder why Neotel hasn't sued the government yet for pulling the rug out from under them. They were promised an exclusive second network operator license for which they paid an exorbitant fee (R100 million?). That has now been undermined by all the IECNS license holders being able to build their own networks. Then they were promised more existing infrastructure (transtel and eskom infrastructure) which was then taken away and given to Infraco. If it was me I would be suing the government for massive misrepresentation and reversal of fees paid.
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And then pass it on to the consumer :D
 
Telkom may be facing challenges, but Neotel cannot risk being sidetracked from the bigger task of competing in the marketplace by tensions in the workplace.
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Surely that does not make sense? If a company does not have the support of its employees, then it is surely doomed to fail at some point.

NeoGhost would surely have to have its own house in order, i.e. have its own employees on-board, in order for NeoGhost to effectively compete.

The substance of the news article might only be a rumour at this point in time [as claimed by NeoGhost in the article], but consumers already know that NeoGhost does not listen to potential and existing customers - as evidenced by its consumer services which all fall short of the mark, so it should be no surprise that NeoGhost ignores its South African born employees as well.
 
freeek said:
That's not true, I agree they have offered nothing to the consumer however they have been making lots of deals with corporate companies. Quite frankly it makes more business sense and the SNO is a business after all.

If i was in their shoes I would do the same focus on what brings in huge amounts of cash with relatively small expenditure. Once I was secure I would start to invest in infrastructure and long term investment ie, the home user and small business.

People are impatient, go build your own network and see how expensive it is.
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Hi, of course it makes more business sense, but I'll tell you what makes even more business sense, they should have just poured all those capital into Telkom and buy shares of that damn company, that makes the most sense, we shall milk everyone and give them no choice.

Honestly, for a company that can't keep a single promise, their existance is a real miracle, it is by the grace of Telkom's complete uselessness at being fair that neotel is able to survive, which is very sad.
 
In my 25 years of telecommunications experience (SA & EA) I have never read so much forkin 'drivel' in all my life. The majority of you bloggers are typical of the SA culture, you always have plenty to complain about but you do nothing to assist in rectifying the problem. Your pathetic remarkes and inuendo's show an absolute immature view on your understanding of the SA Telco market. The majority of whinning that is going on by your 'blog members' comes from people who woud never change providers even if the value proposition offered by a SNO was far better than what they have currently. Get a life and instead of bitching all day provide some constructive advise.
 
Cultural differences ... broken promises ... constant disconnects ... limited coverage ... dishonest management ... nonfunctional support - what a gorgeous picture Neotel is painting for itself!!!

They may recently have won their court case about the use of orange, but they are fast falling into the same league of that other 'orange' company - who's deepest in the pits?

Neotel, heed the advise from a forum member to that other 'orange' company - if you want a slice of future South Africa, start LISTENING to you customers and give us some decent service!!
 
viperv666 said:
In my 25 years of telecommunications experience (SA & EA) I have never read so much forkin 'drivel' in all my life. The majority of you bloggers are typical of the SA culture, you always have plenty to complain about but you do nothing to assist in rectifying the problem. Your pathetic remarkes and inuendo's show an absolute immature view on your understanding of the SA Telco market. The majority of whinning that is going on by your 'blog members' comes from people who woud never change providers even if the value proposition offered by a SNO was far better than what they have currently. Get a life and instead of bitching all day provide some constructive advise.
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Agreed.

There's something fishy about this article - mostly that it seems to jar with reality. Whilst it's quite possible that Neotel has some internal issues like any other company, where are these supposed "many expatriates"? Apart from the CEO and one or two others, most of the people we ever hear from are South Africans. Most of the senior appointments we've heard about are South Africans. For that matter, where are all the "South African Indians" that are supposedly unhappy?

Similarly, anyone who knows anything about successful startups (or successful companies generally) will know that working long hours is perfectly normal, and not uniquely Indian - perhaps Telkom could learn a thing or two.

I think that there are two possible explanations for this article - it's someone looking to stir things up with Neotel, using good old xenophobia (we South Africans know all about that, don't we?), or it's based on an anonymous interview with one disgruntled employee looking to get his own back at a specific manager.

Mind you, I wouldn't put it past iBurst, having lost their bid to copyright the colour orange... any article starting "Word in the market..." is immediately suspicious.
 
According to insiders, there is animosity between South African Indian employees of Neotel and those who have been seconded to the group by its majority shareholder, India-based Tata.
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So are we saying that SA whites, blacks and coloureds have no animosity towards Neotel's indian employees? Why only SA indians? Surely either SA indians are being treated differently or they have a chip on their shoulder. Come on rumour mill, keep turning.

For some of the other posters:
1. No LLU means no fixed line broadband. That is government's fault, not Neotel's.
2. SEACOM - Neotel was instrumental in landing that, if it wasn't for them you would still be waiting for one of those government funded ones to get off the ground with its locally owned BEE AAA ownership requirements.
3. I think SEACOM is going to make Neotel very competitive, watch this space.
 
*sigh* You guys know of course that a rumour, is just a rumour until you get caught with your pants around your ankles right :p ? Then at that stage you might experience some soft issues.. That's when you should be whining, not when your line is down :confused: I worked as a retentions manager for a major provider for awhiles and stats didn't prove me wrong there is about 10% of clients that experience problems, of which 1-3% scream like stuck pigs...

Squeal, Squeal, Squeal, all the way to the market. Neotels contracts work on hardware costs, so if you dont like it bugger off and do something constructive like support any of the other market offerings for BB. I'm sure if you squeal as load as you have they'll realise they should let you go without charging you the remaining hardware costs?

That at least for me would have been a blessing, I could focus on keeping the other 90% happy instead of listening to the constant whining...or not.. and continue having to deal with the chinese water torture drip drip drip drip drip drip drip drip drip
 
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