Why are you no longer a free service?

The service was only free until the system was technically stabilised. This took some time because it is extremely complex. We had an excellent free service and now we have a more excellent paid service.

The service is only available to Vodacom customers, what about MTN subscribers?

• The real-time service is presently offered on Vodacom and will be extended to both MTN and Cell C shortly. We are also planning to extend our RTWW service by offering real-time weather data on our website on a paid subscription basis.

How does one justify spending R3.00 for an SMS and R5,00 for an MMS?

• We feel that for the convenience and savings, the R5,00 for an MMS and R3,00 for an SMS is comparatively inexpensive, especially when compared against other similar download services. (A 70 km round trip costs about R50 in fuel and R20 in vehicle wear and tear (double if this is a big 4x4). It also takes at least an hour of one's irreplaceable time.)

Are you letting a big money making company take control over your site?

• No, we are actually more independent than ever. We are beholden to neither advertisers nor to the cellular service providers, only to the bank who helped us finance the development and installation of the RTWW infrastructure. The cellular service provider only gets paid for transporting the data (which is all of fair, the norm and their core business).

Could you not sell advertisement space on your site to generate income?

• Neither could advertising space cover the cost of development nor station rollout, but for a professional service which we want the RTWW to be, advertising is both extremely annoying to subscribers and interfering with the quality of data transmission and data presentation.

Are there other webcams on offer which are free of charge?

• There may be webcams on offer, but we are unaware of any that provide the detailed combination of weather image, real-time processed weather data and other weather information. Our RTWW is literally 10 to 100 times more sophisticated and complex than a webcam.

Will you be able to see enough on your phone screen to make MMS worthwhile?

• One get's experienced in looking for tell-tale signs, e.g. white water breaking on a point, the white streaks on the open sea surface showing wind action, the line between the dirty water in the front and clean blue at the back.

Is there any way to set up MMS on my phone without having to call 082 111?

• Vodacom subscribers can set this up using Vodacom's web site at http://www.vodacom.co.za . Goto to Phones, then Phone Setup. You will have to register as a Vodacom4Me user but there is no cost involved, as far as we know.

For more information do not hesitate to contact our Marketing Department.