This is sad.

[Compl33t]

3G Ten R 5,990.00 10GB

So I got ADSL, yeah. And I'm pretty happy with it. Except for the cap and the cost. <EG>

I'm still looking for alternatives, though...but just look at this?! If we have to pay this kind of money for bandwith, I'd rather save up a year's would-be costs and immigrate.

Humpf. :(

12 x 5990 = 71880

[kvi]

its called a work in progress..... its not that simple for vodacom to drop the prices down to nothing. its actually ICASA that decides that.

[MaD]

ICASA approves, they dont decide.

[VQuest]

Yeah, the prices are totally mind blowing. But I do believe over time they will come down. Right now I will be sticking with ADSL and using 3G for quick on the move email or if I need some information on the web while away. If 3G works well for me and when the prices finally do come down, I will strongly consider changing from ADSL to 3G. But that's not going to be anytime soon, I'm sure.

[AcidRaZor]

its called a work in progress..... its not that simple for vodacom to drop the prices down to nothing.

Guess who owns Vodacom...

[Diago]

Realistily though something I have noticed is that since I have my 3G I use less bandwidth then I ever used to in the past. Before complaining about price I think it may be a good idea to first use it and see how much bandwidth you actually use and then get the right package for you ?

My opinion however and not a tried or tested system, worked for me thought.

[PCW]

Diago

I agree. I want 3G because all I need is email and a bit of surfing. I don't do P2P, music downloads etc..I get attachments like powerpoint and word but it's not heavy.

I actually think I could get away with the 150MB per month package and for 24 hour access only paying for data and not for seconds connected it is ideal for me.

[AcidRaZor]

You use LESS bandwidth then you used to in the past with 3G?

You do realise that 3G is just another connection to the internet and that you would infact start using alot of it when M$ releases a service pack or patch or your antivirus needs updating?

I'm glad you use less now, but trust me, it will pick up. I used to download close to 85gig a month, some months I hardly did 700 megs.

As someone who knows he wants more, and especially knows how much the web/email/irc/gaming consumes in terms of bandwidht, I'd say that 15 gig as a cap is realistic in South Africa. But seeing that people can get 500gig caps with 8 meg lines for close to R400 per month, I suggest you think about how much these corporations are really riding us few who pay our taxes and can afford a luxury or two because we work 400 hour months.

As soon as my green card is approved I'm outa here. Shame... my girlfriend is going to miss sucking on my bandwidth... should probably marry her so she can go over too... then again... chicks'll do anything for a nice phat pipe... might get me a different ho over there...

[alchamy]

I struggle to see 3G as a broadband solution, its to costly, to slow & has latency worse the iburst. However Its value is elsewhere.

True Mobility, Infact nearly 90% of the country has coverage, when there is no 3G available it will seamlessly switches to the GPRS Carrier.

Which makes it perfect for business users etc, who need instant access anywhere, including half of the bush.

Considering that you would spend around R75 a month to have a dialup account and still need to pay for calls. Vodacom offers a cost effective solution to business users that just need to download the occasional email etc.

Lets say you make use of the network 5 times a month, either while away on business or perhaps at a conference etc. You could download your email for less than R35 a month quite comfortably.

Ofcourse the actual datacard is still a little too expensive for that but as it gets cheaper more & more people will use it, and as a result the prices should drop.

[Harley79]

I have used 250 minutes of Skype time to call the UK. Plus a bit of Skype to Skype calling. Plus day to day email. Downloded Firefox web browser and a fair amount of the plugins, latest cumulative service packs for windows, my anti virus updates,

and based on my current average MB per day, I will only utilise 80% of my 1gig (thanks excel)

P.S. Just tried to get my current usage on the web site and....

Bundled SMSs
You do not subscribe to any SMS bundles.

Click here for more information on SMS Bundles.

Bundled free minutes
Your current tariff package does not include free minutes.

Data bundles
You do not subscribe to any MyMeg GPRS bundles.

Click here for more information on MyMeg (GPRS) packages.

??????

[rabbiddog]

harley

I think somebody has stuffed up that part of the site. Mine shows the same.

[vodacom3g]

Will check it out.

[AcidRaZor]

I struggle to see 3G as a broadband solution, its to costly, to slow & has latency worse the iburst. However Its value is elsewhere.

True Mobility, Infact nearly 90% of the country has coverage, when there is no 3G available it will seamlessly switches to the GPRS Carrier.

Which makes it perfect for business users etc, who need instant access anywhere, including half of the bush.

Considering that you would spend around R75 a month to have a dialup account and still need to pay for calls. Vodacom offers a cost effective solution to business users that just need to download the occasional email etc.

Lets say you make use of the network 5 times a month, either while away on business or perhaps at a conference etc. You could download your email for less than R35 a month quite comfortably.

Ofcourse the actual datacard is still a little too expensive for that but as it gets cheaper more & more people will use it, and as a result the prices should drop.

The idiotic nature of human beings never cease to amaze me. Now, keeping that small fact in mind, most "normal business users" (and I'm talking about people who barely know what the hell the internet is and only use it for email and porn... yes, most businessmen do)

They'll download on average each month with a 64k line only during office hours a whopping 11 gig. They have no idea what a gig or a byte is, they just click the little send and receive button, and the other idiot who emailed them a 15 meg excel file (and not even zip the damn thing) comes streaming down including the other 100 emails he gets as spam because of all the porn sites he visits that dupes the poor bastard in giving his email address up.

This is if you assume the business MAN. If it's a chick it's even worse. The dude would do something like a 100meg a day perhaps. The chick, try 900 meg. And that is ONLY email.

Like I said, overpriced broadband for the few who can afford a luxury or two (and those who opt not eating)

[bosun]

They'll download on average each month with a 64k line only during office hours a whopping 11 gig.

The dude would do something like a 100meg a day perhaps. The chick, try 900 meg. And that is ONLY email.



I would be really interested to know where you get your South African stats from. I hope it is not from the same place that produces the crime stats, although your figures might suggest that.

I am struggling to see how you move 11 Gig over a 64Kbps line, during office hours only, in a month. My calculation, assuming 100% uptime & throughput during an average 8 hour day over 21 business days per month brings me out at less than 5GB per month.

Noone, I hope that your green card does not have basic mathematics competency as a prerequisite, otherwise I am afraid you are stuck here sucking your own "phat pipe" and making the rest of us miserable into the bargain.

[Diago]

I have to agree with Bosun and say that noone your stats seem a bit overboard. I am a non average user and I haven't reached my 1G cap as yet. None of the companies I have worked for and I have worked for some fairly big one's has reached that type of downloads on normal bussiness use. That theory breaks down even further on cap adsl ?

Yes some of us are bandwidth bandits but considering the capability of the 3G and GPRS connectivity and the alternative means available to drain bandwidth I still find it an affordable option if investigated for each individual need. Considering cost will come down at some point I believe that it is a system that works and has more pro's then cons and has improved my life 3 fold. I spend 24 hours a day online and even with Windows Updates and Norton Updates still need to reach my cap.

[Harley79]

Perhaps it is just nooone at the company downloading all his porn

[AcidRaZor]

Hehehe, yea i love my porn...

If the 1 gig from Vodacom was a 1:1 connection (like diginet) I won't mind paying those kinds of prices for their offering.

But it's contended. I'd rather get my monies worth and use someone else. True, they have a lot to offer, but then again, so do other service providers.

The next couple of years is going to be VERY interesting as we start seeing these price wars unfold.

:D

[ipodmusicman]

vodacom3g .. any comments on the orignal post by Compl33t?

[AcidRaZor]

Yes exactly, but it won't happen unless SA consumers get savvy & learn that they have the power to make service providers limbo under that price bar...:D

My point too, but I get flamed for being some kind of an idiot... :D noone's an idiot ... da dum dish

[fergus]

The thing to remember here is that the PCMCIA data card is factored into the monthly R599 subscription fee over 24 months, if you were to buy your own data card & go for a pre-paid 1GB bundle then you would be losing out (as things stand right now, however vodacom3g has stated that subsidies on the data card & pre-paid options are being investigated).

ic, how much is the data card? I've been trying to find that one out. It'd be interesting to compare to setup costs for iburst, adsl, etc.

[fergus]

Thanks ic, I just came across the thread about the data cards after I posted that. I've just managed to get my laptop setup with my gprs phone so I don't think I'll be getting 3g till its cheaper. I just need email and the odd web page so gprs should be sufficient.

How I got gprs setup (too lazy to make a new thread):

First get gprs configured on your phone correctly (phone 111 to get the sim data enabled and download the settings from www.vodacom4me.co.za)

I used the standard windows xp driver for a mobile phone infrared modem and it worked fine (I've got a Nokia 6310i but couldn't get Nokia's driver to work)

Create a dialup connection using the modem and set it to dial *99***1# if you're using xp (leave username / password blank)

On the advanced tab of the modem properties add this in the Extra Initializations Commands box: at+cgdcont=1,"IP","internet" (this sets you up to use Vodacom's APN)

That's it! If all goes well you'll be a-for-a-way - zooming down the information superhighway at breakneck speed (okay I'm exaggerating :))

Strangely I couldn't get this info anywhere on Vodacom's site. You have to phone 111 for them to give you the connection settings. If they put it on their site they could save the call center from taking a few extra calls.

[vodacom3g]

vodacom3g .. any comments on the orignal post by Compl33t?

pyrit -

Are you referring to the 10G / R6K bundle?

From a marketing point, it does not make sense to have a linear scaling of pricing, i.e. price/unit should drop as the quantity goes up. There's been a fair number of comments on this point here already.

From past experience, it's evident that when you introduce different pricing structures, without being VERY carefull, it might open up a potential abuse scenario.

This is being addressed at the moment, so watch that 1:1 ratio being flattened at some point.

Cryptic enough? :)

[bosun]

I have used 250 minutes of Skype time to call the UK. Plus a bit of Skype to Skype calling. Plus day to day email. Downloded Firefox web browser and a fair amount of the plugins, latest cumulative service packs for windows, my anti virus updates,

and based on my current average MB per day, I will only utilise 80% of my 1gig (thanks excel)

P.S. Just tried to get my current usage on the web site and....

Bundled SMSs
You do not subscribe to any SMS bundles.

Click here for more information on SMS Bundles.

Bundled free minutes
Your current tariff package does not include free minutes.

Data bundles
You do not subscribe to any MyMeg GPRS bundles.

Click here for more information on MyMeg (GPRS) packages.

??????
Harley, are you using Skype Out - because I am havng dreadgful trouble gettng them to accept my details and accepts my card, they keep complaining about my address. Any hints, perhaps, on what I am doing wrong???

[Harley79]

I see IC has pointed you in the right directio. But yes, it is a common thing re; buying skype out credit. Nedbank cc's work, ABSA some work some don't. FNB dont work. Not sure the reasoning. :-)

[AcidRaZor]

Harley, are you using Skype Out - because I am havng dreadgful trouble gettng them to accept my details and accepts my card, they keep complaining about my address. Any hints, perhaps, on what I am doing wrong???

Most of the time you need to enter your address EXACTLY as the bank captured it. Happened to me a while ago when they asked an email address (Standard Bank has this on record) and I used my normal email (not the one I setup for banking purposes) and my card got rejected.

It could also be that the provider Skype is using for the authentication does not allow South African credit cards. This also happened several times. You'd think people would wise up... but then you realise they're just idiots in disguise...

Good luck...