Okay, we hoped we had possibly found a way around the hill problem. The head honcho of PMB Computers had agreed to come out and see where I am suggesting they install a repeater station.  If you have been following this series on internet access (or lack thereof in South Africa) you will know how many attempts we have made so far, in trying for faster internet connection, here in our part of South Africa. If you haven’t been following, you can see the other articles under the category South Africa on my blogsite at http://dersalsites.com/southafricanbusiness in the archives, under SA Business.

You see, internet is a relatively new addition to the selection of media available to South Africans and one area that has been sorely neglected. We must remember, that no matter how advanced we think we are, for all intents and purposes, SA is part of Africa and in the global sphere, we are only regarded as a third world country. Most of our counterpart internet marketers, have the advantage of living in first world countries. Even those, in so called second world countries, at least have reliable internet connections. We are probably likened to places such as India, mainland China and several other poorer countries, like those in South America. Most marketers and actually most internet users, are from the “States”, so they have a huge advantage over us.

In the bigger cities like Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth a lot has been done to enhance connnections and various choices of DSL, broadband wireless and hotspots are available. Smaller cities like Pietermaritzburg also have DSL, and 3G, or at least Edge, to choose from, but in the rural areas, the farmers, country dwellers, businesses and homeland masses, have no such luxuries. If an exchange is able to provide a telephone line, through Telkom, then a dialup connection becomes the only option. We find ourselves in this predicament.

We have been marketing on the internet, for several years now and for 2 years, we had DSL. We returned to the farm and reluctantly resorted back to dialup. Now, some of you fortunate fellows have never had to contend with this monstrosity and others know no better, having never had anything else. We all know, how slow the dialup connection is, but imagine long and old phone lines, in the rural areas, where they are always giving trouble and have been repaired several times. Imagine an antiquated country exchange, using “hand me down” equipment. Do you have any idea, how unreliable these lines are? Can you imagine how many times the connection is lost and a new one has to be established? I regularly have to contend with about 3, or 4 lost connections per hour. On a good day, I might only lose connection a couple of times, but then there are the days, when I have had to reconnect 15 times, in 4 hours. Remember that what ever was being done, like a download, is cancelled and has to be restarted. Just think how frustrating and how restrictive this is.

You see, we can conduct our marketing business, by dialup, but as it is only accessible after 7 pm at night, it makes it awkward. We try to prepare everything during the day and then go on at night, but that depends on what kind of connection is available. We tend to leave most of our work for the weekend, but one day of bad weather, can throw out a whole week’s plans. We are unable to effectively transfer data, as in downloads, uploads and ftp. Videos are impossible to watch online and it takes us at least double the time to do anything, when compared to those with fast broadband connections, but hey, we make do.

Anyway, we have heard of a company, which is installing radio linked internet equipment. This works on the “line of sight principle”, where you need to see the aerial, tower, or mast. Most other wireless technologies work on the satellite principle, where you do not need to see the tower. We have a hill in the way, so you see what our problem is.

Being a newly converted believer in The Law Of Attraction ( for more see http://dersalsites.com/loa ) and thinking positively, we tried to find a solution rather than accept defeat. I phoned the company everyday, in an effort to get them to think, how to overcome my problem. I found out who owned the hill and whether he minded a tower being installed, on his hill. We went for a drive, to see how far off, said hill could still be seen. We listed big farms and businesses, in all the areas, that could see the hill and eventually persuaded Pmb Comp that it would benefit them too. Another week passed, before the manager, a chap called Keith, agreed to contact me, with a view to seeing the site.

Every morning for the last 10 days, Keith has agreed to come out for a meeting and to see this hill, that we have identified as a perfect site for them. I have arranged with the farmer, to meet with him and to allow permission for the erection of the mast. Unfortunately, as is so often the case with business here in sunny South Africa, Keith has never arrived. Obviously they do not want the business, as not once has he phoned me to cancel, or to apologise.

As the man in the middle, I am making a fool of my self, by arranging meetings with the farmer and then having to apologise. Today at 8.30 am, Keith promised that he would be in our area and would call me a little later. I set up a meeting with the farmer. By 4 pm and after me calling the office, his cellphone and the standby message machine, I gave up and assumed they had all knocked off early. I called unsuccessfully all afternoon, but never got hold of him. What do we do, when we are desperate, someone promises a service and just doesn’t bother to pitch up?

The final crunch came that afternoon, while I was writing this article. I had left a message for him to call. He finally called at 4 pm and suggested we meet at the local country pub, to talk. We went through and waited, but needless to say, that was the last we heard from him. Why do people go into business, when they are just not interested? Well at least we had a couple of beers, so it was worth the trip.

Just to re-cap, as far as I know, some wealthy Japanese businessman, recently visited South Africa and was truly appalled at the lack of connectivity for the rural dwellers to internet and to cellphones. He apparently was also disappointed, at the apathy shown by Telkom and the government, at not improving these conditions. He made millions of dollars, or yen, or whatever available and contracted smaller businesses, dotted around SA, rather like a franchise, to install the simple radio linked equipment. I’m not sure of the facts, but this is what I have heard. But at this rate we won’t benefit much.

Apparently it is his vision, within the next 3 years, to provide basic internet and cellphone connections, to all those who do not have anything now. Depending on distance and weather, this service is apparently as fast as DSL, is uncapped and very cheap. I think a minimum 1 year contract has to be signed. I really need fast, always on, uncapped internet, to alleviate all the problems we presently encounter.

This particular company has been tasked with supplying faster internet connections, to all the small towns along the N3 freeway, between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. And, that is where we live. We just need to convince them, to erect a tower on our hill. So, when Keith eventually has the decency to meet with us, we will hopefully know more and will keep you informed. If you live in the rural areas of SA and have no other option, but dialup, then you need to watch this space. Particularly, if you live in the area along the N3. We thought ,at last we had found a solution, to our lack of faster internet connection, but we will have to wait and see.

We have now tried Telkom, Sentech, Transtel, MWeb, Vodacom, MTN, IBurst, Gogga, Nashua and Pmb Computers without any joy, so where do we go next? Any suggestions? We seem doomed to stay with dial up.

Derek Robson is an up and coming, South African internet marketer, with a vision of empowering all fellow South Africans and non U.S folk, to have equal opportunity and success on the internet. He and his wife Sally have started a string of sites, resources, courses and articles, as part of Dersalsites. For daily postings and the other articles on Internet Marketing In South Africa, check his blogsite, at: http://dersalsites.com/southafricanbusiness  

To remain informed of our progress, in trying to find satisfactory alternatives, by newsletter and mail and to get recommended tools and lessons and to start your journey to wealth, sign up here. It’s free. Click this link: http://www.dersalsites.com/newsletter/  We will even throw in some free software for you, when you join.

Make sure you get our course on Internet Marketing. This is a comprehensive course, comprising of over 243 pages, with pictures and videos, to help explain exactly what to do. This is a fantastic e-course and is broken into 13 lessons. To get your free course, click here  http://dersalsites.com/course/  

Sally has a passion for gardening. Visit her blog at: http://dersalsites.com/sallysgardeningtips/

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