Letters for Saturday October 2, 2021

Dear Editor,

Way to go Phillip (Henderson, CEO Vodafone Cook Islands), blame the consumer for being ill-informed (Slow internet complaint ‘ill-informed’ Cook Islands News, Thursday October 30). You might like to brush up on your customer service skills because telling us to suck eggs is not a good look.

Don’t put the blame on us to take the focus away from your inability to provide a proper internet service.

Customers don’t care about your issues, what we care about is getting what we paid for, what was promised in the glossy advertising and your company delivering it. The fact that we have to wait for someone to talk with us when we ring in shows how poorly we are being treated. Having to be told by message that we are number two in the queue and no answer five minutes later is poor. Especially when we ring back again five minutes later and get the same message.

Contrary to your belief that we are ill-informed, many of us are technically savvy and not ill-informed. It is too simple to put the blame on just too many connected devices. We all understand the dilemma posed by old copper wire tech. But it is not just the old tech it is the fact that the copper network in places is compromised by many variables such as age, water damage, past road works, poor maintenance or none and the fact that as you say and we understand this, a river of data trying to flow down a garden hose.

Notwithstanding that the broadband modems being used by consumers is pretty basic and therefore a cheap option when people should be offered the option of upgrading to a top of the range device. Hence you essentially have a number of main bottlenecks i.e., fibre optic to copper interface, copper interface to cheap modem and secondary bottlenecks of the integrity of the copper wire network and too many devices attached.

You have known for years about these network problems, and you knew that the Manatua cable was going to exacerbate connectivity long before Vodafone took over the reins so there is some issues around due diligence going on here with Bluesky and Vodafone.

It would have been a lot more helpful if you had instead apologised for what we are experiencing and then offered a conciliatory response, but no, you had to look for an out and that was to blame us for believing in Vodafone’s ability to deliver. It is no wonder that many are awaiting Starlink as a panacea for what we are experiencing now.

Te Tuhi Kelly

Covid-19

In the beginning God created our first parents, Adam and Eve with perfect bodies – “wonderfully made” with a warning that they will die if they disobey him (God).
Unfortunately Eve chose to disobey God and the curse of sin came upon them that they will die (including all the human race).

Like David in his sinful nature knew that he will also die. In fear of the consequences that he is facing – he gave praises to God and thank Him for the way God created him – citing from Psalm 139:14.
“I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made – Marvellous are thy works and my soul knoweth right well”.
For now I believed that vaccination is not the end of Covid-19, only to pray and worship God who is our Creator – for He is in “control” in everything He made (in His own time) and the ‘future’ is in the palm of His hands.

Akamaroiroi tatou, auraka e mataku, tuku to irinaki anga ki roto ite Atua. Koia to tatou ora.

Kia Manuia.

Tutai Mareata Parker