How do you access "unlimited"?

From the annals of things to help you understand what life's like here in Namibia, including, a brief explanation as to why it's taken so long for a second posting.

Ok, it's September 9, 2009 and we've been in Namibia for a little over 7 weeks. I've posted only a single entry about jet lag, thought of at least 4 more, but only started on one. That's because I've been so busy at work or at home in the evening that I haven't had time to finalize and post any entries. We have had some Internet access from the house, but that service was expensive and not unlimited.

Which brings us to today's tale and the reason this posting can go up with more speed. We got Internet at home! The saga of how this happened is indicative of what it takes to get services. Once a service is started, keeping it going isn't nearly so tough.

About 3 weeks ago I went into the Telecom (the landline service provider) shop in the Maerua Mall (the newest, probably nicest mall in Namibia) and applied for Internet service. I paid them 500 NAD (Namibian dollars, about $62 USD) as a deposit. The nice lady said I'd get a call from her on Wednesday to tell me when the installers would arrive.

You probably know where this is going. On Wednesday, no call. When I called, it rang and rang, then someone would pick up, say nothing, then cycle me through the ringing again. Since I have a speakerphone, I called at least several times and let it ring for more than 5 minutes before hanging up.

Now a week has gone by, so I go back to the mall and was told to call Stienie (this last being a nice S. African name for a woman) and I was told that I'd be called. Sure I would. Got referred to a guy named Brian. Brian was nice, but also never called me back. Then I went to a second office of Telecom and was told that the real problem was a lack of router boxes (the part that goes in my house) and she went away to go find out what would happen, but she never returned. Wait, isn't this supposed to be a cool new, ready to roll out service?

More calls and more lack of answers. So far, I know, this is all typical US customer service, but this was a bit more adventuresome. So let's take a pause now and look at the photo. It's a poster advertising the newest Telecom service which is unlimited Internet. Nice poster advertising a new service. Hurray! We applied for 384k acess, which comes with 2 telephone numbers, Internet access, a router with wireless, but which obligates me to a 2-year contract. (Break the agreement and they want you to pay 100% of the remainder--nice, eh?)

What's all this cost? Well, here's your insight into the truer costs of overseas living. The service is 699 NAD/month or $87/month. It includes 100 minutes of talk time on the voice line, since calls are all timed and paid on that basis, much like a cell phone. We also pay about $70/month for cable TV (I'll have to blog on that later too), making it at least the same as we paid for much faster service from Verizon's FIOS combo pack.

Ok, so now the story gets almost fun, if not a little pathetic. Right, we were at no equipment. I get annoyed and remember that there's yet another office not far from my office. The supervisor, Lezzie, says that she's pushed this to the next step and I'll be called for an install. No surprises, I get no call and go back to this lady. Hey, I'd already threatened that I'd go back every day until I had service. She makes a call, says it's some technical thing that she can't explain, and gives me the phone number of another guy, Armando, who is someone in technical services.

Lo and behold, Armando is actually a nice guy and recognizes that I'm not getting the kind of service I ought to be getting. Cool. And he says that he's on it, and I even get his cell phone number. But a couple more calls to Armando and I ask the receptionist for the name and number of his supervisor. She knows the name, but not the number for this guy. Really? Honestly? For his telephone number at the telephone company? Turns out I had been given this details about 2 weeks earlier but hadn't gotten any answer so I stopped calling him.

But this time, eureka, he says that this is not good and when I tell him what service I'm paying for, he gets more upset (I guess since not many folks will pay for this level of service). It's a Friday and I'm sure to have an install on Monday. He tells me that the install team meets at 8 AM and there should be a team at the house by 10.

I eventually get a call from a guy named Archie who says that he will be at my house Tuesday at 9AM personally to do my install. Well, he did show up at 10AM. I meet him briefly, they work, and, well, you know what finally happened. When I did a speed test I was getting nearly 3x the speed I was paying for (download) and pretty decent speed (more than 100K) upload. So, hurray, Internet.

I've never worked so hard to pay so much money for an advertised service. But it's pretty fantastic so far. Hey, I'm watching Season 9 of CSI on cable, blogging from my work laptop (it's after hours, and I'm going to work, honestly), sitting next to Shannon who is checking e-mail wirelessly and next on this channel is "Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream" (a 2008 made-for-TV movie remaking the original 1992 film with D.B. Sweeney and Moira Kelly, one of my favorites, ask my sister, and the 2006 sequel "The Cutting Edge 2: Going for Gold")...