7.2 Mbps HSDPA with bandwidth rollover

km2 said:
However this whole turning "lemons into lemonade" is what makes it annoying. V3G's constant protestations that it was merely a system limitation that they never implemented hard-capping ring hollow, when the OOB issue is shown as a scam that can be avoided with some extra protection money.
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Think you got the wrong picture somewhere.

'Hard-capping' on pre-paid works 100%.

On post-paid it's still a problem because of the delays in the billing records.

So whatever I've said before about not being able to do hard-capping because of system limitations still is 100% valid.

This is not a "sudden, new" hard-capping system at all. Rather we effectively avoid the billing-latency problem by flat-rating the data. But the latency is still there. And thus the danger to go OOB on BBS.

Simple, innit? :rolleyes:
 
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I'll second that

Sselmrah said:
Isn't this getting a bit silly? The complexity of these systems seem to be increasing at an rate exponentially inverse proportional to the (slight) decrease in price. I'm really looking forward to the day I can just spend my data at x cents/mb period.
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I'll second this. Why not just offer data at 0.19c no matter how much you eat. Sort of a "Uncapped" internet at 0.19c per MB on HSDPA.

HSDPA should be open to all even if you are not on BB-A
 
mcleodd said:
How on earth are ordinary consumers supposed to understand this? There is far too much complexity in pricing in this industry!
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I think it is quite clear that this new Advanced Data product from Vodacom add value to a certain segment of their data user base, but does not add value to everyone. This makes the marketing of the product difficult and creates complexity.

I think one will have to wait and see what else Vodacom has up their sleeves in terms of lower end products which will most likely mean lower per-GB pricing. Maybe it all fits together nicely…
 
Simon_B said:
I'll second this. Why not just offer data at 0.19c no matter how much you eat. Sort of a "Uncapped" internet at 0.19c per MB on HSDPA.

HSDPA should be open to all even if you are not on BB-A
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HSDPA is open to all, even if they're not on BB-A. :confused:

Maybe re-read the article and my posts again. I think you're not getting the positioning.
 
Abe said:
Please stop calling this data roll-over. It's nothing more then a "up to" 60 day bundle. The 3GB would be worthwhile if the roll over was unlimited but on the whole, it's not such an exciting addition. Just a little insurance if you go over your limit. I would much rather go with the MTN deal where they cut you when you go over and you just load another true 60 day bundle.

For prepaid users, it's a joke. It's even cheaper to get 2 x 1GB standard bundles then 1 x 2GB advanced and you are guaranteed 60 days with the 2 x 1GB option. It's even worse with the 3GB bundle, you can get 2 x 2GB standard bundles for cheaper and again be guaranteed to have 60 days.
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rpm said:
I think it is quite clear that this new Advanced Data product from Vodacom add value to a certain segment of their data user base, but does not add value to everyone. This makes the marketing of the product difficult and creates complexity.

I think one will have to wait and see what else Vodacom has up their sleeves in terms of lower end products which will most likely mean lower per-GB pricing. Maybe it all fits together nicely…
Click to expand...

In time it will
 
rpm said:
I think it is quite clear that this new Advanced Data product from Vodacom add value to a certain segment of their data user base, but does not add value to everyone. This makes the marketing of the product difficult and creates complexity.

I think one will have to wait and see what else Vodacom has up their sleeves in terms of lower end products which will most likely mean lower per-GB pricing. Maybe it all fits together nicely…
Click to expand...

rpm, would you agree that BB-A is actually a simpler product than BB-S? Simpler pricing and easier to explain and use.

The problem (I believe) is rather that BB-S is still here as well. Legally, we can't drop it.

And the other problem is that we're trying to compare BB-S and BB-A.
 
vodacom3g said:
Think you got the wrong picture somewhere.

'Hard-capping' on pre-paid works 100%.

On post-paid it's still a problem because of the delays in the billing records.

So whatever I've said before about not being able to do hard-capping because of system limitations still is 100% valid.

This is not a "sudden, new" hard-capping system at all. Rather we effectively avoid the billing-latency problem by flat-rating the data. But the latency is still there. And thus the danger to go OOB on BBS.
Click to expand...

I don't think I do.

For most people in contract with data their biggest worry is OOB expenses caused by a Vodacom billing system that prevents them from properly controlling their spend. Individuals can at least these days switch to prepaid, but businesses are effectively stuck with going the contract route for their employees.

But rather than fix your core product, you instead turn it into a new business opportunity to sell insurance. The nice Mr Vodacom comes and says "You know, it would be a terrible shame if you or one of your employees went over bundle. Why at 3.6Mbps you could run up a R15000 bill before our 'hard cap' kicks in after 8 hours. It could happen easier than you may think, a rogue Windows Update, an unchecked download manager, a Flash advert playing videos madly in the background. That R15000 would be bad for just about any business. Now if you just pay this extra R110 a month that little accident would only cost you R3000. Much more manageable."

It somehow seems less believable that you're working hard on fixing your contract billing systems when you're making such a nice tidy profit from them being broken.
 
Sselmrah said:
Isn't this getting a bit silly? The complexity of these systems seem to be increasing at an rate exponentially inverse proportional to the (slight) decrease in price. I'm really looking forward to the day I can just spend my data at x cents/mb period.
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Well then your day's arrived. :)

This is exactly what BB-A is; you "spend my data at x cents/mb. period"

No IB, no OOB, just a flat rate.
 
Thanx for the response.
Ok so I can use HSDPA up to 7.2Mbps on a 2Gig prepaid bundle at 0.19c perMB and get "data rollover" or whatever else u r calling it up to 60days without being on BB-A?

Btw how do you subscribe to use HSDPA or is it now auto on? IE if I have a HSPDA modem/cellphone is it now auto switched on or do I need to subscribe somewhere?

Please forgive if I miss the BB-A thing, its late and all the BB-A and BB-S etc are confusing me.. lol
 
vodacom3g said:
rpm, would you agree that BB-A is actually a simpler product than BB-S? Simpler pricing and easier to explain and use.
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Yes indeed. The best will most likely be to explain that users can purchase a per MB rate of lest say 38c for R 389 per month. You then get a free modem and 1 GB free bandwidth (for two calendar months).

But I think legacy products make it far more difficult to market these products…
 
km2 said:
I don't think I do.

For most people in contract with data their biggest worry is OOB expenses caused by a Vodacom billing system that prevents them from properly controlling their spend. Individuals can at least these days switch to prepaid, but businesses are effectively stuck with going the contract route for their employees.

But rather than fix your core product, you instead turn it into a new business opportunity to sell insurance. The nice Mr Vodacom comes and says "You know, it would be a terrible shame if you or one of your employees went over bundle. Why at 3.6Mbps you could run up a R15000 bill before our 'hard cap' kicks in after 8 hours. It could happen easier than you may think, a rogue Windows Update, an unchecked download manager, a Flash advert playing videos madly in the background. That R15000 would be bad for just about any business. Now if you just pay this extra R110 a month that little accident would only cost you R3000. Much more manageable."

It somehow seems less believable that you're working hard on fixing your contract billing systems when you're making such a nice tidy profit from them being broken.
Click to expand...

Firstly, migrating the contract billing system to real-time is a huge undertaking and although we've started, it's going to take a long time. There are 15 years worth of products built into that system and they all have numerous permutations.

Far from spinning a profit from going flat-rate, we expect a substantial revenue loss due the huge drop in OOB rates on BB-A.

So, if we wanted to "make a tidy profit" from the billing latencies, we should just have kept the old system in place and not flat-rate it, don't you agree?
 
A moer of a flat rate

vodacom3g said:
Well then your day's arrived. :)

This is exactly what BB-A is; you "spend my data at x cents/mb. period"

No IB, no OOB, just a flat rate.
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Yes, but it's a moer of a flat rate. By going up with the price you have confused your clients, even if there are other benefits.. Dope.

Lets hope the feedback you get today will help for future releases to go better.
 
rpm said:
Yes indeed. The best will most likely be to explain that users can purchase a per MB rate of lest say 38c for R 389 per month. You then get a free modem and 1 GB free bandwidth (for two calendar months).

But I think legacy products make it far more difficult to market these products…
Click to expand...

There are unfortunately regulations about dropping legacy products. But we're working on simplifying it.

I like the way you position it. One should not try and compare the two product lines directly. But, inherently we tend to do so.

Will promptly steal your positioning. :D
 
km2 said:
Your old product makes your new product look bad, that's a serious problem with the old product ;)
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Don't disagree.

We must remember though that the 'old product' was designed when we first launched data. And at the time was pretty progressive.

But times move on and we've learned a lot. Like OOB is bad.
 
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