And then there's the question of the definition of "broadband" anyway. The graphic above lists how the RealPlayer classifies broadband on the right, and dial-up on the left. According to www.broadbandspeedtest.net a broadband connection has to be greater than 128k. ADSLguide reckons it should be 256k. The Microsoft introduction to broadband is ambiguous about the minimum speed, but implies that it is somewhere above 128k, since ISDN is not regarded as broadband. Of course there is the Sentech press release which states "Broadband refers to a connection speed from 128Kbps and higher from the end user to the network provider." They don't mention anything about dividing it by 30, or 15, or 4, or any other number.

Here are my own findings, using my brother's MyWireless connection to his home PC. The graph shows his MyWireless connection, as shown on the WindowsXP task manager. The PC is using Microsoft Outlook to send mail to smtp.sentech.co.za (i.e. within Sentech's own network backbone). The "100%" mark is actually 115200 bps, i.e. double the speed for a 56k modem, and not even 128k, which would be 131072 bps. The graph never went above 60%, and averages out around 30%. The Sentech Speed Test was even more pathetic. It never even peaked above 50%. Also, browsing around their own website didn't peak above 50% either.

Is this what you call broadband? Such bad performance from an 8k RealAudio stream? If it was broadband the stream would be broadcasting at 16k, without all the data loss shown.

Here is the same thing from a dial-up modem connected at 28800 bps to the SAIX 086 number.

Just when you thought all of this was turning into a farce, it has. Sentech released the following Media Statement, but haven't put it on their own web site:

MEDIA STATEMENT
16 July 2004
STATEMENT FROM SENTECH CONCERNING THE ANTI-SENTECH WEBSITES AND CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Sentech wishes to comment on the recent publicity concerning delivery and effectiveness levels of its MyWireless product, which have drawn complaints and adverse reaction from certain sectors of the public.

MyWireless service

• The broadband MyWireless service was launched in January 2004 after a lengthy period of development and testing in the market. Initially the service was only available in certain areas of Gauteng and then was expanded to Durban in March and Cape Town in May.
• Blanket coverage in these areas is in progress and the roll out plan that involves the installation of new base stations to expand the coverage fully in these cities is on track.
• Following the above installations Sentech will expand the service into other metropolitan areas as well as urban and rural areas in the future.

Network development

• The overall plan is to be completed within the next two years, although coverage will continue to be strengthened and improved on an ongoing basis as part of the network development.
• This is a similar approach to that which was adopted by the cellular phone networks when they set up their networks in the early 90's. Network development is an ongoing investment and Sentech expects to invest substantially over the next five years. The aim is to expand coverage to at least 80% of the population by 2010.

The coverage and speed problems are all part of the development process as the network grows. Consumers may well recall that in the early days of mobile phones, network problems were often experienced resulting in lost calls or dropped calls and causing frustration to users.

Speed problems

• Shared service (contention) versus speed: Both internationally and locally, companies that provide an Internet service use some sort of contention. This means that the service is shared with other users. The Sentech MyWireless service is a contended service, and as such, the sharing will impact on speed.
• Sentech has brought their international partners out to South Africa to assist with resolving the current issues. Sentech will introduce measures that will improve the service on a continuous basis.

Sales support and customer care

• The call centre is currently receiving a large volume of calls per day and is therefore under pressure.
• To address this problem Sentech has embarked on an intensive training programme for the call centre operators and has implemented a full escalation procedure and a high level help desk to deal specifically with the current issues. Sentech also appointed a team of technical specialists that are sent out to customers that have logged complaints to assist them on site.

The advertising campaign for MyWireless

• Sentech has supplied a comprehensive reply to the Advertising Standards Authority in response to complainants who felt that the advertising campaign for MyWireless is misleading. Sentech believes that it has kept to the spirit and rules of the Advertising Code of Practice and that as a result the complaint will be dismissed. Nonetheless Sentech takes all such consumer complaints very seriously and is encouraging dialogue with their customers.

Website activity

• With the above in mind, a bulletin board will be activated on the Sentech website at www.sentech.co.za and this will enable consumers to be kept abreast of developments Sentech will also post responses to queries on the Bulletin Board and updates pertaining to the MyWireless service.
• While Sentech views the recent anti-Sentech websites as unfortunate, it recognises that these were erected due to levels of frustration being experienced. Sentech took all of this activity very seriously and has taken the various action steps as previously described.
• While Sentech fully supports freedom of expression as enshrined in our Constitution, Sentech is bound to protect its company name and brand if it believes that there could be damage to its reputation. Sentech will continue to consult its legal advisors should action deemed to be necessary.
• Sentech will also send regular updates to the public via the media on the process and progress achieved in addressing the problems encountered with the MyWireless service.

-Ends-

ISSUED BY: MATIGARI INTEGRATED-BMC
CONTACT: JOHANNA McDOWELL/MONDE MATEZA
TELEPHONE: (011) 880-8820
ON BEHALF: SENTECH
CONTACT:MAUREEN MPHATSOE
TELEPHONE NUMBER: (011) 691 7050
FAX NUMBER: (011) 691 7120

On the face of it this is all well and good. But the fun starts when you read the additional information for journalists document they attached. It tries to give a whole number of definitions of "broadband" but forgets to include the ones it uses in its own press releases: Broadband refers to a connection speed from 128Kbps and higher from the end user to the network provider."

In the document they state quite categorically:

Sentech therefore does not use the term broadband, nor uses it out of context. We belief that what is advertised on television as broadband internet is factually and technically accurate as per the internationally accepted and used definitions given above, and is not misleading. (Emphasis added)

What does this mean? They use the term "broadband" all over their web site, their press releases and their advertising campaigns. Yet they want us to believe that they don't? What are they selling then?

Consider what M-Web says "click on "What is Broadband" at http://www.mweb.co.za/hubs/broadband/:
.. Broadband connections come in three varieties:
ISDN
... ISDN comes in two speeds: 64k and 128k.Only 128k is considered a true "broadband" connection. ...

One final thought: I phoned the Sentech sales line today and asked the following question: If I sign up for the 512k contract how can I tell if I'm getting the 512k or 128k service? After musch conferring with the "supervisor" I was told that the best way is to look at your billing information! So I asked what would happen if I installed the 512k modem and only got 17k (512 divided by 30). They said that would prove that I was getting the 512k service, because of the "contention" ratio of 30:1. I said I could get better speed from a dial-up modem. They disputed that I could. Since I generally listen to the BBC on realaudio at 32k from my home computer, I knew they didn't know what they were talking about. Very strange. And these are the sales people! I guess you don't have to understand what you are selling provided you know how to process the application forms.

My own verdict:

• They don't have a clue what they are doing, which is why they are blaming their users
• Their current MyWireless network speed is often no better than a 56k modem!
• Their claim to provide an "broadband internet service" is bogus, because their connection speeds to local and international sites is no better than my ISPs 56k dial-up service.
• The MyWireless sales team doesn't know what they are selling
• The MyWireless support desk is substandard. When they don't know they just make up things
• If you think that R649 for 24 months for internet access that is no better than the worst dial-up ISP, then spend your money with Sentech

Here's the phone bill from an unhappy MyWireless customer who kept phoning the Sentech support desk:

The excuses he and other users got were quite sad, really.

If you need MyWireless Technical Help, don't expect to find it at the Sentech site. Click Here.

Rather go to www.nowire.co.za and buy the modem up front and then pay R499 per month. Their sales person told me that users who complain about the bandwidth will be given free time by Sentech. At least this way you don't have to deal with Sentech directly. You also have the option of a 12 month contract.

Autopage is offering the MyWireless service as well. Their web site is much more honest than the Sentech one, explaining that there are limits to the speed, and not making all that hype about "broadband". And they have their own technical support desk. I'd rather pay the money to Autopage, even though it isn't broadband. At least they listen to their customers.

From the Google news alert, 2nd September:
SENTECH: ‘We're still improving'
[Johannesburg, 2 September 2004] - Sentech says it has taken further steps to ... However, Sentech notes it has “not yet optimised all points in the network”. ... ITWeb, press release
And they still have a long way to go. They have basically said they want a sharing target of 4:1, which means if you have the 512k contract you share it with 4 other people and get 128k of bandwidth locally. If you're lucky.

Maybe when IPWireless discovers how much bad press they are getting, they'll stop using Sentech as a Case Study on their web site. I guess if they made profits by selling them this junk they'd better take the blame when it doesn't work properly. And do they really charge their US customers R3500 per modem? That's US$580. I doubt it. In the UK you get the modem for free and pay £75 if you lose or break it. They charge £18 per month for 512Kbps, and offer a 1Mbps service for £28 a month. In Europe "... Airdata’s partner Next Generation Internet (NGI) offers PortableDSL 128 at a flat rate of only € 9.95 per month, plus a connection fee of €14.95 per month. NGI PortableDSL 768 costs € 19.95 for the Internet flat rate, € 24.95 for the monthly connection fee."

I guess that's why it has to be "always on"
One user describes it as "MyWireless 128, 64, 48, 16 - depends on its mood",
another as "Hell, my gran on a scooter with a memory stick is faster than Sentech's MyWireless!"

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MyWireless: Customer Complaints Work. Sort of

Here is the original complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASASA) concerning MyWireless:

Advertising Standards Authority

Sentech Limited: Complaint of False Advertising, Misleading the public

To whom it may concern,

I wish to lodge an official complaint against Sentech Limited, Registration number 1990/001791/06 located at Augusta House, Fourways Gold Park, Roos Street, Fourways. Telephone number 011-691-7000

Sentech Limited (hereinafter referred to as Sentech) is currently in the process of misleading the general public by ways of their false advertising by means of Television adverts, Billboard, Newspaper advertising.

Sentech advertises a product called MyWireless, hardware supplied by IPWirlesss in USA. The said product is advertised using terms such as “BROADBAND ACCESS” “128k, 256k, 512k internet access”, “wireless access”.

Sentech is currently throttling the majority of the users of the MyWireless product and the speeds received are a far cry from BROADBAND. Eg, on their 128k product, download speed are equivalent to a 28.8k modem – at the best of times. The 256k product gets speeds equivalent to a 33.6k modem and 512k users get speed equivalent to a 56k modem. Users pay on average between R650 to R1500 for this service.

Sentechs abuse of their government ties and abundant supply of money allows them to falsely advertise their product as a broadband product, which it is clearly not. I strongly object to ALL advertising of Sentech’s mywireless product, and I wish to lodge an official complaint against Sentech Limited and demand that all advertising be stopped until their adverts (of any form) contain the words “SUBJECT TO CONTENTION RATIOS AND THROTTLING”.

There are many many users with the same problem and we feel that Sentech should stop the false advertising which ends up with clients being tied up into 24 month contracts. My email address is xxxxx@sentechsa.com or cell no xxxxxxxxxx

I would take great pride in your organisation if you address this issue with Sentech as a matter of urgency and put a stop to all their false advertising.

Sentech's response is here (in part: page 8 is missing). They still don't get it: theirs is not a broadband offering. The highlighted bits are my highlights and not Sentech's.

After my own experiences with the service, I have also filed the following complaint, with Appendix B and C

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa requested an opinion from the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) on complaints received about Sentech's MyWireless service. Here is most of their reply:

Specifically, you requested ISPA's opinion on the following:

• The meaning of the term "broadband" in "internet speak"
• Whether broadband has any impact on the user or the user's speed.
• The likely expectation of a consumer when broadband is offered.

ISPA's Regulatory Committee has carefully reviewed all of the relevant documentation and wishes to make the following comments.

1. Meaning of "broadband"

ISPA concurs with Sentech's submission that there is no uniform or standardised definition of the term "broadband". However, in practice, the term "broadband" is used in the Internet sector to differentiate higher speed access from traditional low speed services, such as dial-up Internet access.

Therefore, in ISPA's opinion, "broadband Internet access" is any form of Internet access which provides significantly faster access to the internet that traditional dial-up services. In ISPA's view, "significantly faster" means at least four or five times the speed of traditional dial-up services.

2. The impact of broadband on a user's speed

When used in the context of internet access services, the term "broadband" is always a measurement of the relative speed of the service. It *must* therefore have an impact on the speed of the service provided to users of the service.

3. Consumer expectations

Given that, in the context of internet access services, "broadband" is used specifically to differentiate high speed access services from traditional low speed services, ISPA believes that a consumer's expectation when a "broadband" service is offered is that the broadband service will offer access speeds several times greater than those provided by a traditional dial-up service.

In a South African context, Telkom was the first company to offer an internet service which could be described as "broadband". Specifically Telkom's ADSL access service offer download rates typically around six to eight times the speed of a traditional dial-up offering. Therefore consumer expectations for other broadband services are for similar access speeds.

ISPA also wishes to comment on portions of the complaint beyond the three points specified in your request.

1. Contention Ratios/Speed of Internet Access.

ISPA supports Sentech's claims that the Internet access speed are highly dependent on the number of people simultaneously using the service at a given time (the contention ratio of the service). However, while the argument that all Internet access services are subject to some level of contention explains why customers may experiance variable access speeeds, depending on the current contention, it does not address the issue of customers' expectations for the service, given the marketing of the product.

ISPA also notes that in section 2.1.2 of Sentech's response, Sentech states that "other internet service providers [...] do not give/state a speed a customer will receive, nor guarantee it in any of their internet service products that they sell. This is because they use the principle applied by all Internet Service Providers (ISPs), namely contention (sharing)."

Given this observation, ISPA is forced to question Sentech's choice of "MyWireless 128", "MyWireless 256" and "MyWireless 512" as product names. In ISPA's opinion, the inclusion of an access speed in the product name would seem to create some level of expectation that the access service provided will be a specified speed. Given that Sentech's service is also subject to contention, Sentech's own response seems to indicate that Sentech should *not* state a speed in its product names.

Further, in Section 4 of Sentech's submission, in response to one of the complainant's request that the words "SUBJECT TO CONTENTION RATIOS AND THROTTLING" be added to Sentech's advertisements, Sentech states that "contention is the applied norm [for] Internet service providers [and that] this omission does not constitute false or misleading advertising". This seems to conflict with Sentech's earlier observation that the industry norm is not to state speeds in product names.

In ISPA's view, where not speed is specified in the product name, there is no need to include "subject to contention ratios and throttling", since the consumer does not have a specific speed expectation. But where a product name does include a speed, it may well be appropriate to include clarification that the listed speed is subject to certain restrictions.

2. Access speeds experience by customers using the MyWireless service

Sentech's response to the complaint does not appear to contest the complainants' claims that the effective throughput they are currently obtaining via their MyWireless service is comparable to a dial-up access service.

Since the likely expectation of a consumer ordering a "broadband" service is that the service will offer significantly better performance than dial-up (at least four to five times faster), it is of concern that Sentech does not address the slow speeds allegedly experienced by the complainants.

It is important to note that ISPA has not performed any tests of the access speeds that Sentech's service offers, and that we have no evidence that the speeds experienced by Sentech's customers are comparable to dial-up access speeds other than that contained in the complaints.

ISPA hopes that this input will assist the ASA in evaluating the complaints, and we remain available to provide further input on this matter, if necessary.

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MyWireless: Improving. Please wait. And wait. And wait ...

Sentech has made numerous promises about their MyWireless service improving. So last night (11th October 2004) at 10.30pm I connected my laptop to the SAIX 0860 number using my tiscali account, and did a "live" comparison with the MyWireless 128k package. The results are still diabolical.

Firstly, here is the news.bbc.co.uk live news feed, using their "radio player" and a Windows media stream of 11kbps. Each player was started at the same time. The MyWireless connection struggled to get going, and eventually lagged behind the dial-up connection by a minute or so, with breaks while it tried to keep up. And this is an 11kbps feed! The dial-up connection worked flawlessly, even though it was only connected at 44.27 kbps. The so-called 128k connection was unrelaible and patchy. Go figure. Here are the graphs from the Sygate personal firewall on each PC, measured at the same time:

... in ISPA's opinion, "broadband Internet access" is any form of Internet access which provides significantly faster access to the internet that traditional dial-up services. In ISPA's view, "significantly faster" means at least four or five times the speed of traditional dial-up services.

Then I went to the BBC video section, and opened the 90 minute realvideo clip of the Bush vs Kerry debate II. In both cases I chose the option to play it directly in the RealOne player. Here are the graphs after a few minutes, again taken at the same time. The dial-up connection is ready to play. The MyWireless conection is still struggling to get started:

By the time the MyWireless connection was ready to play, George Bush and John Kerry were 2 minutes into the debate. After 7 minutes on the dial-up connection, it had downloaded enough data for 33 minutes of video.

The MyWireless connection (at the same time as above) was 2 minutes late. and not keeping up.

Eventually, after 9:44 minutes, MyWireless ran out of data and gave up.

And Sentech calls this broadband??!!

... in ISPA's opinion, "broadband Internet access" is any form of Internet access which provides significantly faster access to the internet that traditional dial-up services. In ISPA's view, "significantly faster" means at least four or five times the speed of traditional dial-up services.

If you thought the 256k service was any better, think again: here are the bandwidth measurements of a user who "upgraded" from MyWireless 128 to MyWireless 256 on 4th August 2004. Notice how the performance went down, not up. He was ripped off, especially since he is now paying more for a reduced service!

One of the basic measurements of the performance of any internet service is a speed test. This is the one from Sentech's own web site:
The first one is done on a dial-up modem. Notice how steady the data transfer is. The second one is done on MyWireless. Notice how the performance wobbles. Both tests were done within minutes of one another. This is a simple browser download of a GIF file. If they can't get this right, how can one expect them to provide a fast service?

The results of the speed test from various MyWireless subscribers are also pretty disappointing. In all cases, the measured speed was nowhere near the "package speed" one would expect.

Download size	MyWireless 128k	MyWireless 256k	MyWireless 512k	ADSL 512k
1024k **	92.75 / 100.94 / 112.26 Kbps	118.19 / 182.8 Kbps	240	397.28
2048k **	84.55 / 99.61 / 110.57 Kbps	76.21 / 140.65 / 178.9 Kbps	274 Kbps	408.79 / 410.51 Kbps
MyADSL (International)	12.6 / 60.1 kbps	45.4 kbps	37 Kbps	-

The ISPA said that broadband should be 4-5 times faster than dial-up. i.e. 224-280k (56k), or even 134-168k (33.6k). Notice how few results make the grade as a "broadband" service. **And these results represent the best possible speed obtainable using the relevant MyWireless package.

For the record, the modem download speed measured was 3.65 KBps, or 29.16 kbps. Not that bad for a dial-up service through a 42 kbps line connecting through a busy sharing point to a different service provider. Similarly the ADSL speed is measured through a busy sharing point, yet it is way better than anything else obtained. Most of the results can be viewed here. It is interesting to note that the highest MyWireless 128k numbers were obtained at 5.30 am.

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