Posted: 11th Apr, 2006 By: MarkJ
Reports suggest that
Wanadoo may have finally identified the reason for some of its broadband customers being stuck without a connection. The ISP's fault diagnosis system is apparently to blame (well, they needed something inanimate to pin it on):
Now, sources have told El Reg that the problem is due to Wanadoo's fault diagnosis system, which is supposed to keep track of problems when cutomers are moved to the new LLU network. Insiders say software errors are causing customer reports to get "stuck" in the system.
The problem is made worse because these faults are piling up, making a massive backlog that Wanadoo is struggling to clear. Some customers have complained they have been without broadband for almost three months while still paying for the service.
When asked to comment, a spokeswoman for Wanadoo dodged questions about the ISP's faults system. Instead she told us: "As we have said before, LLU is a very complex technology and a number of things can go wrong - so if a very large number of customers are being migrated, a very few might experience problems. The fact remains that the very vast majority of Wanadoo LLU customers have not had any issues at all."Wanadoo spokesbots are certainly good at recycling generally unhelpful statements, which will do little to ease the stress of customers suffering as a result of their inability to fix such problems.
The ISP would do well to consider the growing amount of media coverage focusing on these issues, which will no doubt impact the choices of those in the market for a new ISP. More @
The Register.