I have deiberately stayed out of this big argument on this forum, because, I know that I would probably get insulted like some people have here and I wouldn't take too kindly to that.
The day I decided to boycott Telkom I knew I'd have to make do with iBurst or whatever else. I didn't take the decision lightly. I read what MaD had to say and I spoke to Debbie Love via e-mail about it and I thought about it a lot. I stuck my neck out in January and made my contribution to the hearings that ended this week. Due to work pressure I was unable to make an oral submission at the hearing but the documents I sent speak for themselves.
I used to work for Telkom, and while I bear a grudge against them for the way they treated me it's irrelevant to why I am boycotting Telkom. I believe Telkom is strangling my country and I am willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that the stranglehold is broken and the telecoms industry can be liberalised. Why? Because, first of all it would boost the economy. Secondly it would make internet accessible to even the poorest people in the townships; I feel it's time they also experienced the internet and learn form it like I have. Thirdly, the complete liberalisation of the telecoms market would allow me to realize one of my dreams. I see the bigger picture in this country and that is why, for now, I reserve my judgement about the product in itself.
It's so happened that, I've moved into my new house in an area where cellphone reception is not good, and there's no Telkom lines, but, with sheer luck I am walking distance from an iBurst tower.
I am not condoning in any way what happened the last two days... The action in principle was right, but the customer relations aspects of it was dead wrong, and I leave the point to you all to debate and fight out with WBS. What I am saying is, the cut-offs in principle, was the right thing to do from a business perspective, but, there should have been prior warning, and the company should have phoned the users who were exceeding their allotted bandwidth and asked them "Hi Sir, we have a bit of a problem, do you know that you are way over bandwidth?"
It can be argued that, their software and systems are a mess, and by all accounts it is indeed a huge possibility but, I am a sort of fellow that, if I know I am going over my cap, I'd back off almost completely instead of waiting for a throttle.
Blaming each other and swearing, going with lawsuits, etc... etc... has never helped sort things out quickly. The best way is for all the aggreived people to make an arrangement with WBS management, to have a meeting in a calm manner abou it. You can air your problems and they can respond and that way things can get sorted out, people can find out what the final word on the contractual policy is, etc, and answers, answers to the many questions on this forum, can finally get answered directly by the company itself, putting an end to much speculation here.
As I've said before, I can't get a Telkom line even if I wanted one, and there is no other option for me, I have to get iBurst and somehow make it work and sort out the problems as they come.
I have been on the internet for a long time, on dialup, and I've seen many problems occur over the years. I've also had problems with IRC and MSN recently, on dialup, and I can tell you now, that overseas link, it goes down sometimes. Last year I was trying to upload a file and I couldn't see my website. I phoned one of my ex-colleagues in the NOC and he told me straight away the link to America was code blue, meaning the link was down. I don't recall people going off the deep end and threatening mass action that time when 9/11 happened and we were disconnected for 4 days from the USA.
I can understand that some people are dependent on the internet for business purposes but I would never have suggested iBurst for this purpose anyway.
I really don't think iBurst is suited for some of the applications people are trying to use it for. If you want to download so much data I would suggest you get Diginet to your house then. And I am surprised that WBS responded so quickly. Try and get Telkom to fix a speed problem on a diginet line. We battled for two weeks here to get it right, eventually we had to get a manager involved.
I am not saying anyone is wrong or anyone is right. I am merely stating that, resorting to mass action, cancelling left-right-and-center is not the way to go. If I had to start up a company like that, I'd also run into snags? Why, because it's new technology, and with new stuff comes a learning curve, no matter how much training you get from the supplier of your equipment. There is always a difference between theory and practice.
WBS can improve, and I am sure they will do so over time
he he he
