43Mbps HSPA+ milestone for Vodacom

Never seen something so impressive yet so pointless at the same time. Everyone should implement resources reducing the amount paid for data, not a higher throughput of data for the same amount.

What the hell were they thinking? Do you realize the sort of harm this connectivity can do to unsuspecting out of bundle billed individuals can do? I seriously think the Consumer Act guys need to be contacted because of this, its almost like Vodacom and those guys are setting people up to be ruined financially, this really exposes the type of business mentality we have in SA: Drain consumers rather than keep long term income flow going.
 
saffakanera said:
Never seen something so impressive yet so pointless at the same time. Everyone should implement resources reducing the amount paid for data, not a higher throughput of data for the same amount.

What the hell were they thinking? Do you realize the sort of harm this connectivity can do to unsuspecting out of bundle billed individuals can do? I seriously think the Consumer Act guys need to be contacted because of this, its almost like Vodacom and those guys are setting people up to be ruined financially, this really exposes the type of business mentality we have in SA: Drain consumers rather than keep long term income flow going.
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This is the point everyone is making cell providers could look at the iburst offering with let say 5-10gig cap at full speed then throttled for the rest of the month.
 
buyeye said:
This is the point everyone is making cell providers could look at the iburst offering with let say 5-10gig cap at full speed then throttled for the rest of the month.
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+ 1
but they wont. at the end of the day they are making big profits from bundles and even bigger profit off of OOB rates. You really think they are going to stop just because we say so. Jannie is on here everyday and side steps these kind of questions and only answers what he can spin.
 
J0n0 said:
Would be interesting to hear what VC has to say about that...

I find it strange that they (VC) haven't run to the ASA regarding the "world class internet" claims they are making as well.
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I seam to recall that VC or Cell C already did
 
Wow, they have an R8 per second network now.
Sure beats my R0.0003 per second connection. (500GB pm @ R1k).

oh, and its 10 times faster too.
 
Mbuzi said:
Empty N still exists? By the way red is not faster, painted my sim red but still get GPRS and if I am lucky I get EDGE:D
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lol
And here i was annoyed because i only got EDGE on MTN.
 
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Who needs 43? we only get Edge from MTN in Bryanston so ANY 3G would be nice!:sick:
 
From what I have read so far, the areas where people have complained able poor broadband speeds (getting EDGE) are:

1. Pretoria
2. Soweto
3. Johannesburg - Central
4. Sandton

I'll add Centurion - central where I get cruppy BBI mostly EDGE such that opening some facebook pages require buffering. This is no exaggeration!

Now, can Vodacom explain where they are upgrading their towers to 43mbps? Otherwise, it is difficult to believe them with this kind of information on MBB. VC keeps accusing Cell C of being liars but you're creating the same perception about yourselves.

This is an extract of what was reported by VC in February 2011"

Vodacom CTO Andries Delport revealed that Vodacom already has 80 commercial 42Mbps HSPA+ sites live on their network. These sites are based in Durban, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Johannesburg.

Vodacom staff members are currently using the 42Mbps broadband offering, and according to Delport, average real world speeds of between 20Mbps and 28Mbps are standard, with peak speeds of around 36Mbps to 37Mbps.

These speeds are however significantly lower for users on the edge of a cell or during periods where traffic volumes are very high.

Good news for Vodacom subscribers is that the cellular provider has ordered ‘lots’ of 42Mbps HSPA+ modems which will become available to consumers.

Despite the fact that current Vodacom broadband users’ SIMs only have 22Mbps profiles (and are hence restricted to peak speeds not exceeding 22Mbps), Delport said that it is very easy to upgrade their full subscriber base to 42Mbps, which will be done when needed. Users with 42Mbps HSPA+ modems may still benefit from the higher speeds the technology has to offer – just not higher than 22 Mbps.

Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys said that they will not actively market its broadband offerings as 42Mbps, instead focusing on the overall customer experience throughout its network.

Uys said that while technology innovations like 42Mbps HSPA+ are important to them, their focus is the overall experience by consumers rather than the bragging rights of having the highest peak speeds in a small number of areas.
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My questions:

1. When did VC change its mind to offer plus 43Mbps when less than two months ago they reported 42Mbps? Did MBB report misquote VC?
2. How visible is it to upgrade sites from 80 in February to 1000 in April?
 
guy3g said:
I seam to recall that VC or Cell C already did
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You know it was Cell C that lodged the complaint. Like all the other complaints they've lodged.

I challenge you to look up how many competitor complaints were lodged by the cellular operators against each other.

Cell C is the one running to the ASA over every little thing. They even tried (and lost) to get the ASA to rule that MTN cannot call their network HSPA+.

Just like they lodged a complaint that MTN cannot call their network 21.1 when they were calling their network 21.6. :rolleyes:

The reality is Cell C is the cry-baby that runs to the ASA but then tells everyone they're the victim of 'corporate bullying' and that Vodacom is the one 'running' to the ASA. (You'll find Vodacom lodged 2 complaints against Cell C in the last year and in both cases there was a clear ruling against Cell C.)

But it's just another one of Lars' lies. He counts on the fact you're not going to check up that most of the complaints at the ASA involve Cell C and that Cell C actually START them based on really flimsy arguments. And subsequently lose most of them.

So, go check just how 'innocent' Lars is with all these ASA complaints. He's the real bully. And just like any bully, when he starts a fight and he loses, he cries "bully". And then post sobbing apologies in the newspapers or on forums. The Julius Malema of telecoms he was describes as by people on Techcentral. Quite fitting.

Why do you think the ASA wants to impose sanctions against Cell C?

They've been forced to change their name from the ASA to the CCHCA ("Cell C Honesty Check Association"). :rolleyes:
 
vzta22 said:
From what I have read so far, the areas where people have complained able poor broadband speeds (getting EDGE) are:

1. Pretoria
2. Soweto
3. Johannesburg - Central
4. Sandton

I'll add Centurion - central where I get cruppy BBI mostly EDGE such that opening some facebook pages require buffering. This is no exaggeration!

Now, can Vodacom explain where they are upgrading their towers to 43mbps? Otherwise, it is difficult to believe them with this kind of information on MBB. VC keeps accusing Cell C of being liars but you're creating the same perception about yourselves.

This is an extract of what was reported by VC in February 2011"



My questions:

1. When did VC change its mind to offer plus 43Mbps when less than two months ago they reported 42Mbps? Did MBB report misquote VC?
2. How visible is it to upgrade sites from 80 in February to 1000 in April?
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Shocking...This is really really bad news i ever heard on a monday! It seems EDGE is the standard(stable) connection for VC country never mind the so-called major cities. Now i am in Polokwane(Lebowakgomo).....EDGE. Over the weekend i was in Baviaanspoort(Pretoria)...EDGE again. I always nearly cry when reading posts like these exposing major operators like VC.
 
vzta22 said:
1. When did VC change its mind to offer plus 43Mbps when less than two months ago they reported 42Mbps? Did MBB report misquote VC?
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No, while the correct term is 43.2 (grab your calculator and multiply 21.6 by 2. You'll be surprised at the result. ;)), both terms are used interchangeably. We don't speak of 21.6 all the time, it's cumbersome. Most people just call it it 21. And then it's a logical extension to talk of 42 / 84 / 168. Even thought it's technically and commercially required to call it by its proper name: 21.6 / 43.2 / 86.4 /172.8.

But aren't you nitpicking perhaps? ;)

vzta22 said:
2. How visible is it to upgrade sites from 80 in February to 1000 in April?
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It's not so visible, most of it is done via software or even after hours.

But I guess you want to know how *viable* it is?

Very, if you have a network that's actually got something under the hood. Going from 80 to 1000 over two months is pretty easy when the networking technology is so advanced. As a matter of fact, if modems were available we could have looked at 86.4.

The 1000 will be closer to 2000 by the end of next month.

Upgrading towers take more than just painting them black. ;)
 
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Instead of challenging us to look up these complaints and counter complaints... perhaps post links to these.

The ASA seems to want money from people requiring details of anything other than the most recent 20 complaints.

You registered with the ASA to have access to these ?
Who on the forum has this access ?

Perhaps you could make this easier for those here and post a list of Cell C vs Vodacom complaints with the ASA and Vodacom vs Cell C ?

With outcomes too would be smashing.

omegaselect said:
You know it was Cell C that lodged the complaint. Like all the other complaints they've lodged.

I challenge you to look up how many competitor complaints were lodged by the cellular operators against each other.

Cell C is the one running to the ASA over every little thing. They even tried (and lost) to get the ASA to rule that MTN cannot call their network HSPA+.

Just like they lodged a complaint that MTN cannot call their network 21.1 when they were calling their network 21.6. :rolleyes:

The reality is Cell C is the cry-baby that runs to the ASA but then tells everyone they're the victim of 'corporate bullying' and that Vodacom is the one 'running' to the ASA. (You'll find Vodacom lodged 2 complaints against Cell C in the last year and in both cases there was a clear ruling against Cell C.)

But it's just another one of Lars' lies. He counts on the fact you're not going to check up that most of the complaints at the ASA involve Cell C and that Cell C actually START them based on really flimsy arguments. And subsequently lose most of them.

So, go check just how 'innocent' Lars is with all these ASA complaints. He's the real bully. And just like any bully, when he starts a fight and he loses, he cries "bully". And then post sobbing apologies in the newspapers or on forums. The Julius Malema of telecoms he was describes as by people on Techcentral. Quite fitting.

Why do you think the ASA wants to impose sanctions against Cell C?

They've been forced to change their name from the ASA to the CCHCA ("Cell C Honesty Check Association"). :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
 
Selloml said:
Shocking...This is really really bad news i ever heard on a monday! It seems EDGE is the standard(stable) connection for VC country never mind the so-called major cities. Now i am in Polokwane(Lebowakgomo).....EDGE. Over the weekend i was in Baviaanspoort(Pretoria)...EDGE again. I always nearly cry when reading posts like these exposing major operators like VC.
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I only get EDGE on MTN. But i do get hsdpa on Cell C in my area. Whos the leader now?
 
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