MTN investigating slow BlackBerry Internet Service

A number of consumers have complained about slow download speeds on MTN’s BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS).

One complaint on consumer website HelloPeter stated that they received feedback from MTN on 15 July 2011 which said that MTN has implemented a fair usage policy (FUP) on BIS.

“This is to ensure that all our BlackBerry customers get the best experience possible,” the report claimed an MTN consultant’s email said. “We are doing this to manage possible abuse of the service by a very small number of customers.”

On 18 August 2011 a MyBroadband forum member reported being given similar information through the MTN contact centre: “I phoned customer care and the guy told me that MTN have introduced a fair usage policy on BIS whereby they have now cut the download speeds to all subscribers using the BIS server. This was due to peoples abuse of downloading large files.”

However, MTN said that they are not currently applying a fair use policy to their BlackBerry Internet Service.

“Users can verify this by comparing speeds of the ‘Blackberry.net’ APN to the ‘myMTN’ APN,” said Surajh Surjoo, Data Portfolio Manager for Enterprise Markets at MTN SA.

Surjoo added that MTN’s terms and conditions do cater for the implementation of a FUP on all MTN Unlimited or Uncapped Internet services “to thwart customer abuse that deteriorates the experience or service for all other customers.”

MTN is investigating the cause of the reported slower speeds, Surjoo said.

MTN said that they encourage customers to report any coverage problems to their coverage helpdesk on 083 900 1212, or by by email to [email protected].