Let’s be honest, internet in South Africa is a joke. Take this for example: we are ranked 6th in Africa when it comes to internet speed, with Ghana, Zimbabwe (yes, Zimbabwe), Kenya, Libya and Madagascar ranking higher than us. Despite this, local internet companies use ad campaigns that tempt us into thinking that a 1MB line with two free gigs of data a month is “a sweet deal”.

I hope these guys know that the average internet speed in the Czech Republic is around 20MB per second, which comes uncapped every month for about R300. MWeb just happens to be one of those companies attempting to trick us into thinking that we have it good – but when they promised two internet users an “uncapped” bundle that wasn’t actually uncapped, the gig was up.

Joshua Gilbert and Ryan Roxo bought “uncapped” ADSL from Mweb, and like any users with uncapped internet, they downloaded absolutely anything and everything they wanted. But, after receiving several letters warning that if they continued their “repeated instances of continuous bulk downloads over prolonged periods”, their services would be cancelled.

In the space of one month, Roxo had downloaded the equivalent of 174 DVDs, while Gilbert only managed 64. Poor form.

Apparently these guys had signed up for “1Mbps Uncapped ADSL from R199p/m”, and MWeb promised “there is NO base cap. This applies only to our CAPPED products”, and “Uncapped = uncapped, no less than that.” Seems pretty clear, doesn’t it?

Apparently not. MWeb argued that if internet users are abusing their services such that it disadvantages other users, they have a right to terminate their service.

If one or a few customers abuse the service and effectively consume so much data that others are prejudiced as a result, such measures are necessary and reasonable.

The court ruled in favour of MWeb, as they deemed that their advertising wasn’t misleading.

So ‘uncapped’ means: “you can have as much as you want, but not too much”. In the same way that “all you can eat”  means: “all that we think you should be allowed to eat”.

Nice one, MWeb.

[Source : Times Live]