3G Cost

[riaan_pta]

Hi,

I have been a 3G user for the past 4 months. I used to have a 384 ADSL connection up to about a year ago and then cancelled due to the cost.

I visit the site regularly and watch the Telkom ADSL battle with interest. Question is: Is Telkom the only company charging inflated rates for broadband access. Vodacom (and MTN) is selling 3G as a broadband alternative, but charging R2 / Mb ?

That means 30Gb will cost you R60 000 ! (or R17 790 at R599/1Gb) - if it was possible do download that much in a month with 3G (I rarely get more than 15k/sec).

Compared to 3G, Telkom's ADSL service is a bargain...

Riaan.

 

[ic]

riaan_pta, welcome to MyADSL .

I agree that if you look purely at per GB or MB prices, you will conclude that wireless internet connectivity in SA is extremely expensive, however one needs to factor in the cost of a wireless service like 3G or iBurst or even MyWireless/IPWireless - these involve towers and base-stations that also need to be linked up via expensive fibre and/or microwave links...so while you're getting mobility, there is a cost associated with the mobility, however there is always room for improvement and less expensive wireless connectivity - that's where competitiveness needs to kick-in, i.e. market forces. Telkomonopoly basically have the last mile cost of 2 copper wires for ADSL from your house to the exchange - that's not nearly as costly as loads of towers/base-stations and the links that bind them...

That said, these wireless services are still affordable as a low-usage secondary connection - a backup to ADSL...it will be interesting to see what happens when Vodacom introduce HSDPA, and WiMax will change the cost ratio for providers that offer it - drastically [not as many WiMax towers are required]...

See also: iGo 0.5GB - not far at all…

 

[BBSA]

if it was possible do download that much in a month with 3G (I rarely get more than 15k/sec).

Hmmm - You must be from Pretoria

 

[ic]

Hmmm - You must be from Pretoria

LOL, methinks the "_pta" gave that secret away .

 

[ScrnScrm]

Hi,

I have been a 3G user for the past 4 months. I used to have a 384 ADSL connection up to about a year ago and then cancelled due to the cost.

I visit the site regularly and watch the Telkom ADSL battle with interest. Question is: Is Telkom the only company charging inflated rates for broadband access. Vodacom (and MTN) is selling 3G as a broadband alternative, but charging R2 / Mb ?

That means 30Gb will cost you R60 000 ! (or R17 790 at R599/1Gb) - if it was possible do download that much in a month with 3G (I rarely get more than 15k/sec).

Compared to 3G, Telkom's ADSL service is a bargain...

Riaan.

Hi Riaan
Before you can acurately compare costs, you need to understand what the connection is going to be used for. If you are a casual net user, browsing web pages and retrieving email, then 1GB at R599 is more than enough data. My colleagues and I (6 in total) all have 1GB accounts and NONE of us have ever exceeded our cap. We use it for remote trouble shooting and synching mail, with occasional web browsing. Its prime advantage is that it is truly mobile, and this saves the business I work for a lot of money in lapsed time should a problem occur.
If you are going to use large amounts of data, then 3G is not the right service for you. It is not designed for constant high bandwidth downloads. Thats what ADSL is for...
Versus analogue, 3G can also work out cheaper. Click here for an example

Just my 2c worth (again )
Cheers -