Yashvin, pages of my life » Orange and myT

Competition Commission invites the public to comment on myT packages

Yashvin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:07:37 +0000

Following an investigation initiated on the 21st February 2011, the Competition Commission of Mauritius (CCM) issued a press release to invite members of the public to, I quote :

“[...]comments or representations from members of the public to gather further information and evidence on the concerns which may or may not lead to an eventual finding of breach of the Competition Act. [...]“

An interesting statement by the Executive Director of the CCM, Dr Sean Ennis :

“The My.T package mixes together broadband internet – a product in which MT has a monopoly – with products such as international calls and TV services, in which it competes with other companies. Such packages might be in the interests of vigorous competition and convenient for customers. But if customers are unduly influenced towards buying TV services from MT, just because of its broadband monopoly,that could damage competition in those markets.“

Published on the 24th October 2011, the date limit has been set to the 4th november 2011.

In my opinion, the commission has granted too little time for this exercise. During this time period 24th October-4th November 2011, no consideration has been given to the 3 public holidays and a weekend, thus only 7 working days. It should be the case but nevertheless, I will try to call them to confirm if submissions can be made via email addresses. You will find related details to this investigation on this page.

Another fact : As of today, I noticed the related article only on l’express (online) and The Independent. Other newspapers have not mentioned anything yet, unless I have not come across them. I expect that when official communiques will be finally published on all newspapers, that will offer even a shorter period of time for people to react.

On a side note, I personally expected some investigation about the no-price-decrease/double-speed applicable to the 512Kbps myT package . Let me remind you that many people felt outraged when Mauritius Telecom decided NOT to grant the price decrease (announced by the government) or an equivalent double-speed to the portion of customers who still have the 512kbps MyT package. You can read related Mauritius Telecom and MyT articles in this section.

Anyway, if you feel that you can contribute to this investigation, hurry up!

btw, Happy Divali to all

MT s*cks in customer relationship

Yashvin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:52:50 +0000

We all know about the monopole of Mauritius Telecom over the internet connectivity in Mauritius, how the internet speed really sucks, how they increase the speed instead of making the price more accessible.

But what really pisses you off is how they handle their Customer care and their hotline. When calling the commercial customer care hotline a few minutes ago, we fell on their pre-recorded message informing us about the problem on the broadband service. That’s all they said.

And what do we say to our clients? Should we wait for them to solve the problem so that we can get back to work? Can’t they give an estimate?

They really fail in Customer relationship. But at the end of the day, we can ask ourselves : do we really have a choice?

Quick quick! Internet is back. Post!

How my orange mobile got top-up’ed 4times…

Yashvin — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:19:58 +0000

With very little credit available on my Orange mobile, I created a new SMS to be sent to the top up service of SBM to recharge my credit.

Send :

“topup ” to 8726.

The message failed a few seconds later and it was placed into my outbox so that another attempt could be made a few minutes later. The message failed a few times more before it was sent successfully. It was then 7am.

At around 9am, I was bombarded with SMS from Orange. 14 to be exact.

The last message was as follows :

I immediately called Orange Customer Care and complained about my account being recharged 4times. At first, the agent thought that I was a #noob. No need to say to whom I am referring to here. (Anyone?)

I explained everything again and again until she finally understood the context and logged a complaint. Time : 915am.

Exactly 12 hours later, no response.

Later on, I learnt that I was not the only one who encountered with similar problems. “Failed” sms in the outbox were in fact successfully sent and received at the other end.

For instance, Mantasha PROBABLY paid 12 times more for the message she sent me only once but which I received 13times.

And guess what? She will learn this “super tricherie” and bug on Orange, ONLY when she reads this line. But as usual, it will be too late.

#FAIL : ORANGE seems to be an unlucky color nowadays

Did you get the same problem recently?

Orange Family Antakshari

Yashvin — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 18:36:52 +0000

Hello dear readers.

I might deceive you tonight since … there won’t be any criticism (at least from me) about the new MBC singing competition, the Orange Family Antakshari. I had a much better video to watch, and it was that of the wedding of my sister.

However, I encourage you to leave a few words, in case you still watch the national television. I also heard that the broadcast of this tv program was much controversial because the concept being used was initially proposed by Emtel. The title would have been the “Emtel Family Antakshari”.Â Anyways, let forget about all this. Just enjoy your life

For those who missed the post about the Zorange Expo Fair, please visit the page here.

Keep tuned to the blog.

Cheers,

Yashvin

Orange [tv], is this a joke?

Reasons why you should not go to Zorange Expo 2011

Yashvin — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:58:00 +0000

With approximately 45,900 visitors during last year’s edition, Orange is highly advertising their event which will be accessible to the public from the 8th to 10th April 2011. Do you still remember last year’s expo? You might get a flash back if I tell you that there were Orange “partners” selling furniture, beds and kitchen things. Still nothing? 3DTV perhaps?

Let’s be serious. Did you use anything that wasÂ demonstrated to you in last year’s expo? How many among you actually watched 3D tv or used their 3D glasses? How many among you pay for watching TV on your small mobile phone? And if I say, pay Rs19.60 for stupid fun tone service which you accidentally got subscribed while using your phone?

What if we talk about real life now?

Your livebox refuses to connect to the internet,
Speed tests are displaying 1/10 of what you are paying for,
Your adsl modem stops synchronizing for no reasons,
Low quality YouTube videos are taking like hell to load and after each few seconds, it needs to buffer again
Nothing interesting to watch on tv, despite the dozens of tv channels offered by Orange
Paying loads of money for an unreliable and slow internet connectivity
Forced to upgrade to a 1MB connection if you want to get the price decrease announced by the government or forget the decrease and stay on your existing 512Kbps connection (Read More)
A stupid and amateur technician who says that your newly purchased laptop has no LAN port? (Read More)
The CEO of Mauritius Telecom, Sarat Lallah, announcing that they provide a myT 3MB/s subscription, live on a private radio.

And the worst experience of your life : Calling the Customer Support and waiting for 10minutes to get an answer somewhat like “Monsieur/Madame, pouvez vous eteindre votre livebox et le reallumer apres 15minutes.”

If you feel that Orange has really done something that has brought joy in your life during the past months, then you should definitely go to their expo to show your support.

But if you are like me, angry each time you have a low speed and fed up of being treated like a sh*t by their customer care and the management in general, you should save your money and time by doing something more interesting with people who care about you…

Please spread the word by clicking here to share the post on Facebook!

Orange Fun Tone : Pressing (*) accidentally

Yashvin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 05:31:31 +0000

“Peze zetoile pu cokin ou camarade so fun tone!”

Do you still remember the advert about the Fun Tone service of Orange?

If you use your mobile to call your friends (like most people do), you have most probably noticed that many people chose to replace the traditional ring back (waiting) tone by some music, hereby referred as the “Fun Tone”. These group of people have probably sent requests to subscribe to the service via

SMS or
Calling 8787 or
Internet or
Pressed the (*) key to “steal” the tone of a friend…Â and Â I personally know persons who pressed the Â (*) key accidentally.

My guest writer Bhanu had that experience a few days ago. While calling one of his contacts, he accidentally pressed the key (and perhaps a lot of other keys simultaneously). He might have been careless but you might have the same problem if you have some touch screen models in particular.

He was immediately bombarded with a few SMS sent by Orange, congratulating him (lol) for subscribing to the Fun Tone and also, for choosing that specific Fun Tone.

When calculating the total costs mentioned in those SMS, he realised that he paid

Rs10 for the monthly subscription to Orange Fun Tone
Rs9 for choosing the fun tone (accidentally)

He called the customer care to inquire about this Fun Tone and they told him that he should SMS “STOP” to 8787 to cancel the subscription. One thing that he ignores till he reads this article is that he also paid Rs0.60 for this last sms.Â This accidental key press while handling his phone cost him Rs19.60, if there are no other hidden charges of course.

For a more friendly usability, I believe that Orange should have sent a confirmation message before cutting off your credits for a service you have no intent to subscribe to. Don’t you think so?

And finally, are you among those who accidentally subscribed to the Orange Fun Tone too?

Wimax : From Nomad to Emtel

Yashvin — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 15:31:55 +0000

One of my dear and most regular readers decided to write an article for us to share his experience with a few Internet Service Providers and also, some useful information about his new internet connectivity, the Wimax Emtel Pro

The ongoing saga of the search for a good ISP

For the past 3 years I have been using the Nomad Wimax 512KBPS subscription which was kind of ok for general use. However, just before the Christmas holidays Nomad advised me by SMS that they would be doing a server upgrade. Under those circumstances you expect to have interruptions of service. There was the usual breaks in the service and I did not bother about it too much. The problem was and still is that, well after the end of year holidays the interruptions continued.

Nomad, as usual

Today my Nomad connection no longer works like it used to. I found that for long periods of time I was not obtaining an IP address from the server. I tried several tests with the rabbit modem such as removing the router and directly connecting it to a PC or a laptop. I found that I would get an IP conflict error several times. Otherwise I would go for hours without getting an IP address from Nomad. When it did connect I would only be able to have a connection about twice a day. Looking at the router status I found that Nomad was implementing a lease time of 2 hours so it meant that my communications would be interrupted automatically. Just imagine the frustration if you are uploading or doing internet banking.

To summarize, I was having extreme difficulty in connecting with Nomad and when I finally had a connection it would be restricted to a maximum of 2 hours. I then decided on two things;

Got myself an orange internet-everywhere subscription just to have a connection whenever and
Got the services of an IT technician to check out things my end and prove that the problem is indeed with the ISP.

The IT technician did all the usual checks and then went on the phone to the Nomad service with his findings. Magically I would get a connection after they did a reset at the Nomad end and suddenly an IP address would appear. However the same cycle would start all over again. The IT technician was very clear that the problem was at the Nomad server end and that I would probably continue to have the same difficulties.

So the aftermath of this saga is that I have spent extra on an orange internet-everywhere subscription plus the time for an IT technician intervention as well as paying for a Nomad service which was supposed to be a 24hrs one. To be fair Nomad reduced the January monthly bill by 30%.

Anyways, decision time came to go for a new ISP and gradually cut down on these expenses.

Enter Emtel

After looking at MyT and reading about the MT on-site technical service or the lack of it, the positive reviews about Emtel attracted me.Â I was willing to subscribe to a more expensive service as long as it came up with the goods.Â I must say that I have been delighted with the service I received from Emtel.

My first contact with the Emtel representative went smoothly and the person was very helpful in dealing with the administrative side. Within two days the on-site survey was done by technicians to determine if there was a good signal at my place and check out the installation requirements. The very next day three technicians completed the whole installation, rooftop antenna, cabling and indoor cabling, router configuration, wi-fi test, testing the connection and finally activation. All done professionally without any delays or problems.

I am one happy Emtel client using their 1Mega Wimax-Pro subscription and my connection is stable. I highly recommend Emtel for an internet subscription. Now I can deal with cancelling the superfluous subscriptions.

Hardware

An Alvarion ODU (outdoor unit) is on the roof with the antenna, this has all the smart stuff in it for the point-to-point microwave link.
An Alvarion IDU (indoor unit) is fixed to the wall near the PC, this is just a power injector and as some control LEDs on it.
An ethernet cable runs from the ODU to the IDU.
Another ethernet cable runs from the IDU to my router which provides WiFi around the house.
Netgear Router WGR614v9 (Rs2,875 incl. VAT)
Purchased separately to enable wifi.

Price

Installation:Â Rs 1600+vat (Can beÂ some extras if you require PVC pipes forÂ external cabling but that is an option, +-Rs500)

Emtel Wimax Pro (24/7 access, unlimited download/upload):

128Kbps = Rs849+vat p/month
256Kbps = Rs949+vat p/month
512Kbps = Rs1699+vat p/month
1MBÂ = Rs5,889+vat p/month
2MB= Rs11,999+vat p/month

Last words

My thanks goes to Mike for sharing these valuable information to the readers here. So, as from now, I hope that Mike enjoys a good connectivity, no more nomad, no more orange everywhere!

Anyone who has subscribed or has used Emtel Wimax Pro are welcomed to leave a few words about their experience

Mauritius Telecom “Tech” who did not see the network port

Yashvin — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:23:19 +0000

31 December 2010, ~17hrs…

Mauritius Telecom’s “technician” calls to tell me that there’s no network card on the laptop.

Surprised, I asked him to double check and he confirmed that there-was-no-network-cable-port on the brand new laptop. I told him to install the ADSL modem using the USB cable instead. To this request, he told me that he tried too, but the operating system could not locate the modem while being connected through USB. I insisted that he should try again.

Let me now give you more details.

Some of you might remember, I recently purchased a laptop for a relative, who then applied for a 3GB ADSL connection. A few days afterwards, i.e. on the 31st December 2010, a MT technician went to their place for the installation and configuration of the modem.

Note : Mauritius Telecom charges Rs1000 for this installation done during normal working hours.

As you have probably guessed, the “technician” was surely in a hurry to reach home on this last day of 2010, without being able to connect the laptop to internet.

Being the one who understands these geek things in the family, I was the one who was again called there to fix things. When I reached there, the relative told me that the laptop should probably be returned to the seller since the Mauritius Telecom’s “technician” said that it was not a good one. The relative also showed me a piece of paper, on which were written the following :

The professional’s advice :

The technician told them

about the “missing” LAN card and
additionally, he gave them some piece of advice, freely : Change the current Windows 7 to either Windows XP (SP2/3) or Windows Vista or
Uninstall some apps due to high performance in task manager.

I still can’t understand the last 2 points and the connection with the modem.

Missing LAN

Was he blind? Or perhaps he doesn’t know where a LAN cable should be connected?

As you can see, the LAN port is there. Some miracle? I should perhaps believe in god in that case.

Connectivity issues

I connected the LAN cable, went through the installation process and configured the Beetle modem (220BXZ). No connectivity. Tried the same thing with the USB cable, nothing. And yes, the Windows 7 did recognize the USB modem when I was there. To make sure that the problem was not with the laptop, I connected a second laptop running Windows XP. Same problem.

Windows complained about some problems with the router :

I checked the lights on the modem :

Power, ADSLÂ : Lighting steadily

Data : Off

LAN : Blinking Green and sometimes Red.

Calling 8900#2

I phoned the Orange Customer Care, listened to their waiting tune for some 5 minutes. After several additional calls and requests to reset/test the telephone line, the people out there discovered that there was an issue with theÂ synchronizationÂ of the modem.

They told me that there are going to log a complaint and a team will come to check it after a few days. As promised, 2-3 days later (i.e. today), Mauritius Telecom technician(s) went there and the problem was solved.

During the day, I called back the Customer Care to complain about the SUPER-Technician who (1) not onlyÂ charged an installation fee of Rs1000, but (2) he also found out that the laptop has no network card, (3) was unable to connect the modem using USB, (4) advised to downgrade the operating system or uninstall programs, (5) noticed high performance in the task manager of a 1-2 weeks old laptop which has the strict basic and bundled software installed.

The customer care agent was unable to attend to my requests. She said that she tried her best but she could not redirect me to the proper person with whom I could eventually write an official complaint against the “technician” and also, discuss to cut off that “installation fee” that was totally useless.

She lastly advised me to report the problem to some guys who will probably phone at the relative’s home to inquire if they are really connected. Some kind of follow up. Never got that call.

I will not end this matter here. This technician surely needs some $#%@!

Before ending, can you please share my facebook fan page around on your Facebook profile? Use the button below or click here

Myt 512 – Upgrade / Downgrade / Forget double speed!

Yashvin — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:05:59 +0000

On the 1st December 2010, there was lot of frustration and anger among many myT users, including myself because the internet speed was not doubled, as promised by Mauritius Telecom. I phoned the Customer Care of Orange for explanations, but in vain. Following that conversation, I emailed a complaint to Orange, Mauritius Telecom, ICTA and the Competitive Commission of Mauritius.
Our Mauritian blogger on GeekScribes has written a very nice article on this topic. Please read his blog to get all the details related to this chaos among the myT customers. Carrotmadman6 has also written something which might be very interesting for you..

Today, according to an article on a newspaper, Mauritius Telecom says that those having the 512Kbps myT package (at Rs750+vat) can be divided into 2 categories :

Those who can’t have the TV services because of a technical constraint (probably distance from the station) and
Those who are not interested to benefit from the additioinal tv services.

The proposed alternatives

After a meeting held yesterday, the following options will be proposed to these 2 categories of customers :

Stay on the same package 512Kbps at the same price of Rs750+Vat (=Rs848) for as long as they wish
Upgrade to the myT 1MB +TV package at Rs999
Downgrade to the ADSL 512 Kbps at about Rs759 (VAT Inclusive)

So, logically, the price of internet has not been decreased for a portion of the Internet users in Mauritius, which is totally illegal since the decrease had been announced by the Government. Mauritius Telecom is here practicing a “2 poids, 2 mesures” towards their first myT subscribers who never wanted to upgrade their tv package.

According to me, Mauritius Telecom is not planning to maintain their initial 512Kbps package. So they are canvassing (and forcing) customers to either pay more to get a new service which they probably won’t need or simply forcing them to downgrade to another service.

Putting it in a different way, I feel that Mauritius Telecom will be categorizing its orange myT clients into 2 distinct groups :

Those who pay Rs848 only, unwilling to upgrade/downgrade their connection.
Those who pay Rs1000 (and above)

I am still undecided : I do not feel that I need more speed (and spend about Rs100 more) for my internet surfing at home. I am no mass downloader since I only read blogs and news, and do some social networking including maintaining my blog.

Once again, I repeat that the channels proposed in the myT package are completely useless (most of them), of bad sound quality and unreliable. Unreliable because most often, my Orange decoder decides to stop working for no apparent reasons. And I am not the only one who says so.

Why should I lose my time calling a customer support and being put on hold for 10mins, and finally, they promise that they will call back. No need to say, in most of the time, you never get a response back…

Meeting with Mauritius Telecom representatives

At around noon today, I got a call from a Mauritius Telecom agent. He informed me that they received my complaint regarding this myT issue and they have decided to meet me in order to discuss. From what I understood, some MT representatives will be present.

So, here is a list of questions that I am planning to ask.
Feel free to add your own in the comments section :

Questions :

Will MyT users have to pay the Installation Fee and other charges if they want to downgrade to an ADSL?
Fair Usage Policy? Is it still valid?
Is Bandwidth Throttling applied (or will be applied) in Mauritius for specific sites like rapidshare?

Hope that they don’t cancel the meeting at the last moment and that the outcome of that meeting is something really constructive, instead of an attempt to do some marketing.

Orange [tv], is this a joke?

Yashvin — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:20:52 +0000

30hrs of MBC TV on your mobile for Rs50…

Who in ~~the world~~ Mauritius even thought about this idea? LOL

Yashvin, pages of my life » Orange and myT

Competition Commission invites the public to comment on myT packages

Related Posts:

MT s*cks in customer relationship

Related Posts:

How my orange mobile got top-up’ed 4times…

Related Posts:

Orange Family Antakshari

Related Posts:

Reasons why you should not go to Zorange Expo 2011

Related Posts:

Orange Fun Tone : Pressing (*) accidentally

Related Posts:

Wimax : From Nomad to Emtel

The ongoing saga of the search for a good ISP

Nomad, as usual

Enter Emtel

Hardware

Price

Last words

Related Posts:

Mauritius Telecom “Tech” who did not see the network port

The professional’s advice :

Missing LAN

Connectivity issues

Calling 8900#2

Related Posts:

Myt 512 – Upgrade / Downgrade / Forget double speed!

The proposed alternatives

Meeting with Mauritius Telecom representatives

Related Posts:

Orange [tv], is this a joke?

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