DFA network collapse
Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) experienced serious network problems, which caused SLA breaches and forced it to put new installations on hold.
MyBroadband received numerous complaints from DFA customers, most from Gauteng, about network downtime and instability.
A large DFA customer said DFA’s fibre network used to be stable but deteriorated rapidly towards the end of 2022.
The network problems were so significant that DFA could not meet its service level agreement (SLA) for numerous clients.
According to the client, it forced DFA to halt installations until further notice.
Another customer said his ISP informed him about big problems on the DFA network, adding that a DFA technician would visit them to investigate. The technician never arrived.
The network issues became so severe that the DFA network operations centre (NOC) started to respond to faults with a generic message.
Kindly note, our ANO has advised that they are still trying to source a team to go to site, please note that are currently faced with a high volume of calls which delays ETA, we are constantly following up with our ANO, we sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.
In a message to customers in November 2022, DFA said it had seen a “variety of challenges which are adversely impacting our network performance in the Gauteng South Region”.
“DFA would like to assure our customers that we are committed to resolving these issues as soon as possible, putting every measure in place to address the network outages in the area.”
DFA said it had directed all its available resources towards managing the faults being experienced.
It included implementing an emergency network rehabilitation program dedicated to limiting the region’s increase in service interruptions.
It also said it ensured that its teams conducted repairs for newly reported problems with improved turnaround times.
“A network audit conducted by DFA identified the network’s primary congested points for in-depth analysis, to ensure the appropriate actions are implemented,” it said.
DFA chief operation officer Wesley Nash offered their “sincere apologies to all those affected”.
“DFA deeply regrets the inconvenience experienced and are committed to taking all necessary steps to resolve network issues as soon as possible, to provide our users with a stable and dependable network,” he said.
While DFA’s focus is on the Gauteng South region, many DFA customers in other areas also reported problems.
It is currently unclear how widespread the DFA network problems were and how many clients were affected.
MyBroadband asked DFA for further feedback about the network problems and halting installations, but the company did not respond by the time of publication.
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