Karoo Announcement

[miken]

Noticed on twiter

@karoobroadband #karoo Kingston Communications customer statement about demand on broadband network http://bit.ly/1yd7Hp

Announcement

We are aware that a number of customers have posted comments and feedback on both our Twitter page and internet forums regarding slower speeds on some of our Karoo broadband packages.

We want to be completely open with our customers and provide a clear and honest update on why this is happening and what we are doing to combat the ever increasing demand on our network.

What are we doing about this?

We monitor the Karoo network daily to analyse behaviours so we can plan ahead for increases in usage, traffic volumes and the need for extra capacity. We also set service level targets for the performance of our packages on all different types of internet traffic.

However, whilst in the past our forecasts have been broadly accurate, there has been an industry wide exponential increase in the demand on ISP networks due to the popularity of internet video.

On our network, in May 2009, video streaming traffic equated to just 14%. In October this grew to over 36%.

We want to assure you that we are taking this increase in bandwidth requirements very seriously.

Our commitment

We announced in October at the Hull Digital Live conference that Kingston Communications (KC) is investing in the Hull/Karoo network to upgrade our IP core, to deliver improved reliability and speed. We are now focussed on bringing this upgrade forward to improve the capacity of our network and customer experience as quickly as possible.

We continue to monitor the network daily and promise to update our customers throughout this process.

We would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to feedback to us whilst we are undergoing a time of change to meet your evolving needs.

Src: http://www.karoo.co.uk/announcement.aspx

[dylan]

Yeah noticed. It came (in part) as a response to a tweet from the karooforums twitter account yesterday:

http://twitter.com/karooforums/statuses/5401855134

<at>KarooBroadband - Our members are complaining your service is slow. Your staff tell us this is due to high demand. What is being done?

http://twitter.com/KarooBroadband/status/5425838499

<at>karooforums thanks for your tweet. We are aware of the increase in comments in relation to speed please read more here http://bit.ly/1yd7Hp

[miken]

I do like that they accept there is a problem with demand and looks like they are doing somethinga bout it, hopefully it won't be to long.

EDIT: Off topic, could someone with twitter account ask them to fix the spelling on http://karoo.co.uk/lifestyle/kt-comet-deals-article.aspx please its annoying me. "To get £10 off all new iPod touche products please use discount code: ALLTOUCH10. "

[dylan]

How does everyone else feel about this announcement?

Personally I am pleased that Karoo have chosen to admit that they have capacity issues with their network and that they are going to upgrade it. I do hope that they let us know how long we are going to have to wait to get sorted, and wonder if we can get any kind of refund for the period where we receive a reduced service.

P.S Miken. All forum posts are sent to the twitter account. Just write a tweet sized post in this thread and it will be tweeted for you (takes up to 30 minutes)

[commandergc]

it's good. simple because once kc has admitted to a problem they usually fix it.

[Adrian]

Well now they have admitted they are issues I guess they will add capacity and upgrade kit where necessary, as the problem won't go away until they do. Takes alot for them to admit something though... well done

[gazfc]

Its good that they've addmitted there's a problem but should of never been an issue in the first place.

Off topic, Do you know if karoo have plan's to replace all the copper with a fibre optic network?

[dylan]

Its good that they've addmitted there's a problem but should of never been an issue in the first place.

Off topic, Do you know if karoo have plan's to replace all the copper with a fibre optic network?

I very much doubt that they will replace all of the copper (i.e the entire run up to the house) as it would be too expensive for them. They are supposed to be improving their network however so perhaps some parts of the infrastructure will be replaced with modern kit.

[richardmyers]

It just annoys me that folks like me, too far from an exchange to enjoy decent speeds. If KC did something about that I'd be much happier.

[miken]

UPDATE (12 November 2009):

We would like to give you an update on the recent customer statement released on Wednesday 4 November below.

Shortly following the statement, we made some small adjustments within our core network to help manage the increase in video streaming traffic. This was a short-term solution but we believe it has already had a positive effect on package performance for many broadband customers.

Further to that, this weekend (13/14/15 November), we will complete the installation of new ATM cards to increase bandwidth capacity and reliability on our core network.

It will take approximately 2-3 weeks to complete the full migration of customer accounts onto the new cards, however, customers will see progressive improvements as more and more lines are moved over to the new capacity.

We want to assure you we continue to monitor the volume of traffic on our network and are still committed to providing a great customer experience.

[Adrian]

Good news indeed

[The Dominator]

 
I for one am liking this new 'open' Karoo..

If your reading Karoo - well done for talking and being honest, for this you can have a gold star for your star chart.

[Adrian]

 14487 kbps (1.81MB/s) 850 kbps (106kB/s)

At this time, these kind of speeds would have been impossible a couple of weeks ago!

Just checked Usenet, downloads varying between 1-2Mbit, few weeks ago it would be hard to establish a connection!

Very positive

[dylan]

It is good indeed. I wonder if Karoo on its best behaviour because competition looms on the horizon?

[richardmyers]

Should be noted that Rapidshare is now shaped further, 2-6kb download speeds.