Potentially corrupt Windows update files have been blamed by SA broadband users for racking up hefty data bills. <\/p>\n
In one case, a Vodacom subscriber was presented with a R13 000 bill for data downloaded. When contacted, Vodacom agreed to drop the charge by 50%, still leaving the subscriber with a R6000 bill. <\/p>\n
The user, a MyBroadband forum member, was using Windows XP when the incident occurred. The seemingly broken file restarted the download repeatedly racking up a hefty 10GB of bandwidth before stopping. (http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/vb\/showpost.php?p=1712555&postcount=85<\/a>) <\/p>\n "The trouble started precisely on the 18th of March … at 8:14 pm and finished on the 19th at 11:42 pm," says MyBroadband member AK65. "I had checked Vodacom4me a day or two before that and saw I had a couple of hundred meg till month end, so I was under a big misconception that everything was hunky-dory." <\/p>\n A Vodacom representative on the MyBroadband forums confirms that this is not an isolated incident. "I had that with Vista SP1, it downloaded to 87% and then restarted. Used 1GB of data before I fixed it, by downloading and installing manually … I just checked my update logs and it started on the 19th of March."<\/p>\n The issue again raises concerns that 3G users are able to run up significantly high cellphone bills without being fully aware of it. <\/p>\n While Vodacom says it has in place a policy to contact users with extraordinarily high usage, it is often the case that the bandwidth has already been used before processes to contact them take effect. <\/p>\n Microsoft did not respond to requests for feedback regarding this issue.<\/p>\n