My friend Vhata says I must not moan in my blog so I’ve decided to try and make this post as positive as I humanly possible. However, let me start by saying that Telkom is a filthy disease ridden whore.
I could go and explain why I feel this way but honestly I can feel myself getting angry just trying to think of where to start… The important bit is this: I refuse to continue to support Telkom.
Until recently there really wasn’t much of an option when it came to broadband in South Africa. Telkom’s ADSL was the “best” solution, but like I said earlier, Telkom is a dirty whore…
Since Telkom owns all last mile copper the only other option is wireless. Traditionally the wireless market in SA was run illegally by unlicensed operators until a few got licences and the incompetent dogshow that ensued caused everyone, myself included, to decide that wireless was not a feasible solution (yet).
Enter, stage right, Amobia: a wireless communications company partnering with Frogfoot, a company I already have immense respect for.
Besides the pedigree that Amobia inherits from its Frogfoot connections, it’s also a company that is making a marked difference to the lives of the South Africans where it means the most… They’re connecting under-privileged schools; initially for internal communication, Open Source downloads and email, but ultimately to the Internet. They’ve done 35 and are on their way to 100. Not bad for a company a fraction of a fraction of the size of Telkom.
I’ve watched Amobia from afar for a while and two days ago, in the midst of another glorious Telkom blunder that left me discovering that Telkom’s systems really are a mystery even to themselves, I decided to jump ship and order an Amobia connection. Yesterday (the very next day) I had a technician in my house making sure that I would be able to connect properly and I expect to complete the paperwork tomorrow. It costs less per than Telkom’s ADSL and I know that Amobia doesn’t oversell their bandwidth so I should have a flawless, connected future, sans pigs, rats and filthy whores.
I’ll keep you posted.
arbitraryuser 
There will be 50 schools connected by the end of this week.
Thanks for the friendly comments.
I am sure that the school connection thing is part of a broader marketing strategy (Look at us, we are small and we care!) but hey, who the hell cares if they are providing a good service to new users and in the process helping out the under privileged. Well done i say!
I share your disdain for telkom and must thank you for pointing out a great alternative. I am moving house in a month and a half and will be hopping across to Amobia.
Cheers
For myself, i’ve never felt better off the grid….Amobia have never failed to impress and I now have an SNOM VIOP phone…albeit with one person to speak with on it, but the Revolution never sustained if it exploded too fast – ne? VIVA (do you pronounce that WIFI round here?!)