Benoni hit by ADSL failure

By Dave Glazier for Telkom

Johannesburg, 04 Oct 2006

Companies in the Benoni area of Johannesburg`s East Rand have been affected by a persistent ADSL network failure, with complainants saying Telkom has indicated the problem will not be fixed for a week.

"Our ADSL service went down at about midday on Monday, and after repeated phone calls to their help-desk, [Telkom] told us this morning we would not have access for about a week," says Samantha Watt, manager of Watt Communications in Benoni.

Caren Bender, assistant to director Gavin Roeloff at Ebotse Golf and Country Estate in Benoni, says her company`s ADSL connection has been "fluctuating" between full service and no connection for about two weeks.

"Yesterday was an absolute nightmare - our connection was down 95% of the time. We have a huge deadline for a board meeting tomorrow; the material isn`t coming through, so we will have to resort to physical delivery of information," she adds.

While the extent and cause of the problem are unknown, Watt says she knows of various businesses in the area having the same trouble.

"Different people seem to get different responses from the help-desk; but the worst thing is having to wait at least 25 minutes for any assistance."

Telkom refused to comment on the issue this morning.