Internet Service Providers' Association

INTERNET OUTAGE BY A SERVICE PROVIDERS Recently we had an internet outage, from around 11h00 on the 7 April 2025 up and to the 8 April 2025 at 20h10, the service provider been MWeb who is then served by Openserve for the actual fibre line which is basically Telkom. To be fair am email was sent to MWEB enquiring about the outage on the 7 April and 17h54, I received a call from Mweb at 14h15 on the 8 April 2025 informing me that there was an outage which Openserve has located in the morning of the 8 April. I also received an SMS from Mweb at 14h10 on the 8 April informing me of the problem with Openserve. Here, we have a major problem, is that from 11h00 on the 7 April 2025 when the outage occurred till the advice from Mweb on the 8 April 2025 at 14h10, is that it takes some 27hours later informing customers that there is a problem. Surely with modern technology and computers, outages can be detected within an hour or so and then acted upon. Why does it take over 27 hours to report an outage? If they were reporting it by ox wagon, I could understand but with modern technology, these types of delays, are just unacceptable. Here is another problem, as a customer of MWeb with whom ones signs a contract is signed to provide a service, they at times fail to provide the required service through the fault of Openserve. Oh, and MWeb are a very difficult company to deal with insofar as contacting their management, one wonders whether they indeed have a management team because in the past when I have tried to contact them, there seems to be an invisible brick wall around contacting their management. Its just impossible. Anyway, the bottom line is that we – and there are many of us who pay MWeb for their service, when they fail to provide their service because of a breakdown by Openserve, they still charge us for the down time. There is no credit for the down time. Is this not a form of theft. The time/period that they fail to deliver the service should be credited to one’s account. They Do Not. They will quite rightly blame Openserve who supplies the line. But the point here is that a contract is between MWeb and the customer not with the customer and Openserve. Surely the management of MWeb should take the matter up with Openserve and demand a refund for the time that Openserve fails to deliver their part of their service to MWeb? How can any company charge for a service and when it breaks down still charge for the down time as well? This could very well be regarded as cheating. In fact, the service provider should then credit the customer for the so called down time and then claim it from their service provider, in this case Openserve. It seems that in this country the customer is being *****ed by numerous service providers with no recourse at all. Both MWeb and Openserve will probably survive in the third world in which they operate but would find it a lot more difficult operating in the so called first world with their current levels of customer service would not be tolerated One has on previously occasions queried the charging of service when there is none, but to get an answer from anyone is like squeezing water out of a stone, they just do not bother reply. One wonders what the National Consumer Commission stand is, on such issues. Can a service provider charge for a service that they are not delivering? Or when the service fails still charge for a failed service. Well, when contacting the National Consumer Commission, one is faced, with all due respect, someone who can hardly be understood trying to communicate in English. Hey, my expectations were too high from this so-called professional body, forgetting that this is indeed Africa This down time severely affects one ability to conduct any form of business or communication as one needs the internet for this. All internet users should take note, you are being *****ed