UruguayLiving.com

My last blog entry about ANTEL and the ridiculous and insensitive way in which it operates drew more comments than any other entry I’ve written, at least for a very long time. The truth is that I really hate to say bad things about anything in Uruguay, and I feel an obligation to tell the whole story, rather than being a perpetual Pollyanna.

At least one good thing came out and that terrible experience. I discovered a telecom company that apparently wants to do business the right way: Claro, which was formerly CTI Móvil. We discovered it in our hunt for alternative Internet access during the ANTEL debacle.

NOTE:  Since this was published several people have pointed out to me that Claro and Telmex are both ultimately owned by Carlos Slim. Maybe he needs to take a hard look at TelMex’s management and practices…

One solution turned out to be G3 wireless modems. We’d previously gotten one from ANTEL (I know, I know: I should’ve known better) because I wanted one that would work throughout the entire country. It does work, but the bandwidth isn’t very good. So, during the crisis, we decided to explore other options.

The Claro modem was the cheapest at 500 pesos per month with the first month free. It also had the best local bandwidth: I was able to get a steady 236kb. The one year contract promised to have countrywide service by the end of this calendar year. AND, in something unheard of in this business climate, they offered a five-day return with no questions asked.

Since the first modem worked so well, we bought two more. In addition we are negotiating with them for cellphones and modems for our entire staff, and also looking into the possibility of them providing a wireless backup Internet for the next time ANTEL decides to engage in it self-indulgent idiocy.

My plan is to do business with companies that want to do business properly whenever possible, and to promote them through my websites. Please note, I have no financial interest in Claro nor any business arrangement for promoting them. I am doing it for the good of Uruguay and those who live here or want to live here. I am convinced that good business practices will eventually drive out the bad.

There are two alternatives to ANTEL for Internet service: Dedicado and TelMex. My experience with both has been abysmal.

Having said that, we are going to give Dedicado another chance now that they have moved one of their main antennas. There are still many people who have excellent service from them and it is a real alternative to ANTEL. It seems that they can provide excellent service, but you need to check and see how the service is in your location before you buy. My biggest gripe with Dedicado is that they advertise that the bandwidth is guaranteed, but if you read their contract it absolutely is NOT!

TelMex is another case. They are expensive and incompetent! We signed a one-year contract with them which EXPLICITLY guaranteed the bandwidth, for which we paid a huge premium, and they never delivered. In the evening I seldom was able to get half of the Guaranteed bandwidth. After talking to IT professionals, I have been told that TelMex is famous, or more properly infamous, for this performance throughout Latin America.

I am hoping that Dedicado will take a page from Claro’s playbook and become a responsible company. I have little hope for TelMex, and absolutely none for ANTEL.

Posted by southron on Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 11:27.