MTN3G said:
Yello,
I am the data product manager at MTN and will be responding to all your questions on data topics. There is a great deal of lively discussion and debate on this site, and I am keen to participate, and share knowledge with you from an MTN perspective . Please feel free to fire away on any issue which involves MTN Networks to me. Looking forward to a lively debate.
MTN3G
Thanks for responding. Prepare for roasting!
Seriously, though, I'm sure you can see that users are fleeing to the competition in droves. I myself was going to go and buy myself a Vodacom 3G 350MB contract today actually.
What you can do is do some serious education to your Service Providers. Most of them don't know what data is, what EDGE is, what data bundles are and what a datacard is. Users like myself find it incerdibly difficult to find out what to do to get to the point where we can connect to the internet (either from a phone or a datacard) and start using the edge or 3g service.
Why, when you phone 173, do you wait for more than an hour to get your call asnwered if at all? This has happened to me and many other forumites on numerous occasions.
So a sticky MTN Broadband FAQ would be a great help to start.
I'll give you an example:
How to connect to the internet with a Pay as you Go PrePaid SIM and a GPRS/EDGE handset:
Q: I buy a MTN PAYYG SIM. There's nothing on the packaging that gives me any information on where to go from there.
Q: How do I enable GPRS/3G/EDGE settings on my phone? *123#
Q: How do I enable GPRS on my SIM? (Not enabled by default). Who do I call?
Q: How do I install the cellphone as a modem on my laptop?
Q: When I want to connect, what's the number to dial in the dial up networking panel.
A: #99*
Q: What's the user name and password?
A: Leave Blank.
etc. etc.
It took me a few days of pain to get all this knowledge together. So it would be nice to see all of this gathered together on a FAQ here and on your website.
Next:
Why are you lagging behind Vodacom on products? Why can't I buy a data only contract with a Card bundled in? I am told that I have to buy a MyChoice Top-up or a SMS contract, and then on the mychoice I can't use the monthly 75 bucks to buy a bundle. I must use out of bundle rates at R2 per megabyte (37MB) and then purchase a data bundle for more bucks. Can you see that your products are not really fitting the needs of users? This forum can be invaluable to see where the needs of the market will go - we are sort of ahead of the loop. I mean, look at what VC are offering, datacard wireless routers etc. You guys need a serious wakeup call!
Next:
Most users of cellphones who are buying new ones or renewing contracts are dial-up internet users. All they know about 3G is that it's some kind of fancy video call / TV thing. Thank your marketers for that! At the point of sale, you could already be educating them that it's cheaper and faster to connect via MTN data network than paying an ISP and exorbitant Telkom phone call charges. (It is certainly true for me...) Start selling a phone and a data card bundle with 2 SIMS. Just get creative, and you will get a big chunk of the dial-up business.
And let us know what your 3G roll-out strategy is? As far as I can see you've only got the beachfront covered in Durban (I'm in Westville). And the pace of the roll-out seems VERY slow, yet you are going ballistic with marketing. Also you are providing 3G handsets that default to GPRS not EDGE.
What's your HSDPA strategy?
Give us some answers to questions like:
If I buy a Merlin U630 / Vodafone 3G data card, can I get a firmware to upgrade them to HSDPA when it becomes available, or will I have to buy a new card?
Please give chop an answer on his Sierra 850 datacard, cause there is a very interesting product that will grow with the network, and not be totally obsolete in a year.
Also, there are a number of users here who would be only too happy to help you with testing etc.
Lastly, look at the Vodacom forum to see how intelligent, helpful, and efficient vodacom3g is, because that it your benchmark.
So give me a reason to stay with MTN, and I will.
Oh, and I know it's probably company policy, but the Yello thing is so lame and irritating. I find it offensive to be greeted by 'Yello'. Take that back to your marketing people. Please drop it, please. Unless you're under ten years of age, it's just so fake. You see "Yebo", is genuine. "Yello" is fake. Fire your advertising agency.
And another thing.
Cell phones are so sophisticated these days, that it is really not acceptable to give me a dummy phone, and then expect me to make a purchase decision based on what it looks like. I want to see the feature, check it has edge etc.
VOIP
Check the thread on VOIP. VOIP is now legal with ICASA, so why should I pay more to use it (R25 per MB?) Is MTN trying to protect revenue? Because the statement on your website seems to be hiding behind regulatory issues (like you're not allowed by the law to carry VOIP). Come clean on this please.
Welcome to the site. Hopefully, you will make a big impact.
AK65.
