Silence

Our telephone is dead. Almost six weeks ago there was a squawking and beeping from our Telkom phone at around three o'clock in the morning. The the death rattle of our land-line. The copper miners had been at work.  Four weeks later Telkom replaced the open wires just outside the village where they had been stolen.  We had our telephone line back.  We took advantage to call friends and relatives "Quickly, before the lines get stolen again".  Two days later we had a high wind. During this wind storm we heard the telephone once again announce it's demise.  Again, no service.  That was nearly two weeks ago.

Tuesday we went to a presentation on satellite telephones.  Expensive?  Damn right it is.  Definitely not in an old pensioner's budget.  A plan?  Yes!  I spoke to a fellow who represents another company supplying GSM telephones.  I have ordered one for our home.  This system shares all cellular networks, choosing the best quality signal to connect to the called subscriber.  The phone should be here next week.  The costs?  R99-00 per month plus calls.  Calls? R1-22/minute to cell numbers and R0-44/minute to Telkom landlines.  Cheaper than Telkom rates!  So we are going to try this.  There is no fixed term contract, so if you don't like it, give them one month's notice and they'll take it away.  If you do like it, no set-up or installation fees.  Just R99-00 + vat per month and calls!  Now that to me seems a pretty good replacement for the Telkom line..  Let's see.  I'll keep you updated.