One by one Surfline Ghana's core values were slowly stripped from the hearts of Ghanaians. When the playing field levelled up, Surfline begrudgingly gave up their seat for others. When they weren’t the only ones with the “secret ingredient” for the magic potion, they failed horribly.
ITEM REVIEWED
Is Surfline Ghana the real deal?
REVIEW TYPE
Technology/ Internet
REVIEW
As a former pacesetter for 4G LTE internet service provider in the country, are they still in the race? Is Surfline Ghana the real deal?
According to their website, Surfline Ghana was established to provide Ghanaians with ‘premium’ quality wireless broadband connectivity. For some time, this is exactly what they did. The company started on the high with a lot of people rushing to get on board. And as the popular Akan saying goes, “Adepa na t)n ne hu” which means “ a good brand sells itself”, Surfline Ghana enjoyed its prestigious status.
The introduction of smart technologies dragged in its wake the need for internet connectivity. And for those who beg to differ, I ask, why would you buy an expensive smartphone and not have a good internet connection?
Except for regular calls and texts, almost every function/app on a smartphone operates on an internet service.
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Therefore internet service is very important to Ghanaians and the world at large. And so the colossal excitement with which news of a new technology that provides better and faster internet service received, was predictable. The publicity was massive, especially on customer reviews and referrals. And despite their backbreaking prices, people were all so eager to jump on board including me.
In 2014, Surfline Ghana appeared on the Telco scene armed with the newest technology, which made them look like athletics whilst portraying their comrades as senior citizens. Currently, there are three connectivity devices available namely the Surfline Router, the Surfline Mi-Fi and the Surfline Modem. The Wigle was not available at the time is article was written.
A glance through their data packages placed them a bit on the high side but at such coveted speed and prestige, the monetary aspect was overlooked. 1.5 GB of data was priced at GHc20.00 for only 15 days (for light internet users).
I remember a few friends were a bit sceptical about the whole brouhaha. I hate to admit now. But then, they had good arguments. They were adamant that all these goodies from Surfline Ghana were because they were new and thus had fewer customers to serve. The internet service was also limited to certain parts of Accra. They insisted that after some time, the company would run out of steam if not properly managed. They believed this new trend was too good to be true.
And just like prophetess of doom, their predictions came to pass one after the other. And one by one Surfline Ghana core values were slowly stripped from the hearts of Ghanaians. Customers couldn’t stop complaining about the poor internet service and equally appalling customer service. Employees gave off the impression that there was no passion when executing their duties. And as for trust, the least said the better.
Rumours of alleged data theft and illegal selling of data bundles inside their own circle were just repulsive. But then it made sense as to why customer’s data bundles miraculous got used up without actually being used. In what seemed like a move to cut cost, some workers were laid off. Imagine how Ghanaians reacted to this news in the face of the rising unemployment rate in the country?
READ ALSO: Surfline network restored after days of blackout
Then we had others join on the 4G LTE internet race and Surfline ratings plummeted further. Busy internet rebranded and MTN Ghana introduced fibre optics. When the playing field levelled up, Surfline begrudgingly gave up their seat for others. Now they weren’t the only ones with the “secret ingredient” for the magic potion.
Although I will commend them for trying to hold down the fort, they failed. I had a flicker of hope when they launched the “10 for 10” promotion. But then it seemed they were determined to disappoint me as once again more complaints trooped in. Apparently, the network was terribly slow once you found yourself on the promo.
RATING
In conclusion, Surfline Ghana is not the real deal. I hope that this is all a temporary setback because I miss those hay days when we reigned. Looking forward to writing their comeback with much pride and enthusiasm.
All things being equal, I say kudos to MTN Ghana, you deserve the seat. Ayeekoo for a battle well fought!
CREATED BY
David L. Rottmayer (CEO Surfline Ghana)