Tag: seacom

Pwned.

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As a biologist, I know that if you want to know what something does in a biological system, you remove it and see what happens. Usually, this results in a mouse dying.
Seacom decided to see what happened to South Africa today when routine maintenance work on an internet cable ran over by… ooh… ages and then observed the effects from the safety of Seacom Towers or wherever they hide away when businesses and livelihoods are being ruined.
South Africa, as with the humble laboratory mouse, promptly died.

There were rumours that the outage was going to last until Friday. And that would have been really bad. But it seems (since I’m writing this) that normal service (slow & patchy) has been resumed. It was fortunate that tomorrow is a Public Holiday and many people had taken today off to have an extra long weekend.

Thus, the murine casualties were limited. But it did show just how thin the line is between happy working internet and business stopping completely.
I only just got to write this blog post. That’s how serious it was.

UPDATE: Some agreement and some more detail from Hilton Tarrant.

Quota photo courtesy of Web Africa

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I am typing away on Mrs 6k’s laptop, 3G modem lodged firmly in its side. The reason for this is the supposedly seamless network switch by Web Africa, which I think is taking place this evening. I must have caught the switch right in the middle, because I have absolutely no internet connection at home. I tried to call, but they’re very busy this evening, sorting out other customers who have found the seam they thought they didn’t have.

Recalling the email which I skim read at work today, I can go onto their forum and discuss any problems I might have. The crushing stupidity of that statement didn’t actually hit me until this evening. And now it’s all too late.

Today’s quota photo is a wonderful example of Phalacrocorax lucidus (obviously).
He’s sitting on a rock, drying his wings and wondering which ISP to swap to. Soon.

UPDATE: Goodbye WebAfrica, hello Afrihost. ‘Tis done.

Dear Web Africa. Goodbye.

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I am ever so excited about your new 10GB ADSL trial.
I signed up as soon as I could and as you told me:

Dear 6000

Congratulations and thank you for signing up in time to participate and receive your 10 Gigs of FREE bandwidth! We have hit our target of 5, 000 sign ups.
All applicants will be informed via e-mail and optionally SMS, as soon as the trial begins and you will then be supplied with your login details.
We will periodically be sending updates regarding the starting date, however please visit our Forum regularly to stay informed on additional news and progress reports.

Since then, you have sent me precisely no SMS’s and one email, detailing how my trial account would be activated “between 1st and 7th October”.

Today is the 8th of October and I have heard nothing more. The 8th falls outside that 1st – 7th activation period you gave me, see?
And while I accept that this was a “free trial” and there were terms and conditions attached, courtesy – especially when directed towards your customers – really costs nothing.

Sadly, this is symptomatic of the general decline in the quality of your services in the 3+ years that I have been a customer. On the occasions that you have sorted out issues and problems, it’s only because I have repeatedly chased you to get answers.
On your front page, one of the testimonials describes you as being “like a breath of fresh air”. That’s how I felt when I first signed up with you, but now things have got a bit stale and there is a faint whiff of BS around the place.

With the advent of SeaCom, South Africa finds itself in a very promising position. Higher speed internet and greater bandwidth capacity have provoked huge excitement throughout the IT industry and amongst internet users across the country. SeaCom opens up huge opportunities in every sector, from Education to Commerce to Science and Technology.

Sadly, to get to the people that matter and to make a difference, it has to go through ISPs like you. And if your service is anything to go by, it will probably never get there.

So yes, I was ever so excited about your 10GB ADSL trial, but now I will be taking my bandwidth elsewhere.