7.2 Mbps HSDPA with bandwidth rollover

vodacom3g said:
Maybe not stupid but definitely unnecessary.
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Isn't it?

Perhaps there's some usage scenario I've missed, but I can't see who it would possibly benefit.

1) Fundamentally you pay the same amount for half the data:

Old: 500MB (R189)
New: 250MB (R189)

Old: 1GB (R289)
New: 500MB (R279)

Old: 2GB (R389)
New: 1GB (R389)

2) OOB is irrelevant for prepaid

You only have to topup when you want to get next months bundle, so Vodacom can't nail you for OOB.

3) Rollover is useless

As others have pointed out the maths, it can only last for a maximum of 60 days and you could simply buy a data bundle at double the size and not worry about rollover. Long story short it's impossible to come out ahead with rollover here.

4) The speed doesn't help

If you're doing heavy downloading with a 2GB bundle you get 66MB of data a day. At 3.6Mbps you can chew through that in 2.5 minutes, at 7.2 Mbps you do it in 1.25 minutes. To empty your entire cap takes 75 minutes at 3.6Mbps. Who cares about that kind of difference?

But does it make web sites faster? Fractionally. The thing that none of these articles talks about is the tiny difference that doubling your bandwidth actually makes to browsing once you reach a certain speed:

Take the home page of mybroadband.co.za. It's around 250KB of data to transfer the content (images, scripts, etc), split up over 50 different files. Now at 3.6Mbps that should take half a second, with 7.2Mbps doing a quarter of a second.

But a browser can only request 8 files at a time (I'm being generous here, and simplifying away pipelining, caching etc), and has to wait for those files to finish before it asks for the next lot. That means it has to do at least 6 lots of requests to get the whole website.

Now HSDPA (be it 3.6 or 7.2) is a minimum of 0.15 seconds to send a request and get an answer back (for local only sites, but mybroadband talks to Google Analytics internationally which means 0.5 seconds for some items). So for 6 rounds you're talking 0.9 seconds just spent waiting.

So, it comes down to
3.6: 0.5 seconds working + 0.9 seconds waiting = 1.4 seconds
7.2: 0.25 seconds working + 0.9 seconds waiting = 1.15 seconds

It ends up with browsing feeling roughly 20% faster. Not the speed doubling one might expect.

To sum it up, if you do average browsing every day you'll be lucky if you save a total of 1.25 minutes throughout the day by being on 7.2Mbps (using a 2GB cap, you save even less on smaller caps).

For those people playing online games, 7.2mbps would make even less of difference.

I stand by it being "stupid" to buy a product that gives you half the data with the remaining benefits being useless.
 
My first post here.So let me get this straight,if you're on post paid and go for the 3gig BBA bundle you'd be paying 26c/mb because the price includes a 7.2 capable modem?So why the same price for a prepaid user when he doesn't get the 7.2 modem?
 
why don't VC just drop data rates and simply have one rate for all, and charge only for the data you use. Keep it nice and simple for all. no moans about roll over etc. No difficult accounting for VC (somewhere I read that VC don't allow roll over is because their accounting sytems can't handle it. It is too complicated) And then less fortunate people can also experience true Internet and the benefits thereof. Would be a wonderful social responsibility pr initiative
 
@Vodacom3g - If Vodacom questions your overtime claim form - we'll support you! Being available until 1 o clock on a Sunday morning on the forum... Respect!
 
vodacom3g said:
There are unfortunately regulations about dropping legacy products. But we're working on simplifying it.
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Are you saying that regulations stop you from offering a 'new' improved product at the same 'old' price?
 
I don't care about the faster speeds, so when can I get data rollover on my existing contract? I mean, now it's possible - all of a sudden - so isn't it fair that I can use data that I paid for on my time...?
 
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km2 said:
I stand by it being "stupid" to buy a product that gives you half the data with the remaining benefits being useless.
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I agree it would be 'stupid' to buy this product if you never go OOB.

Have already said it a thousand times in this thread and it looks like I'll have to repeat myself many thousands of times more.

So let me say it for the 1001st time :)

BB-A makes a lot of sense if you tend to go OOB, but do not want to pay up to R2/MB for the privilege.

BB-S (the 'normal' product), makes sense if you can't go OOB.

Forget the 3.6 / 7.2 differentiation. It's all about OOB.
 
CalmD said:
My first post here.So let me get this straight,if you're on post paid and go for the 3gig BBA bundle you'd be paying 26c/mb because the price includes a 7.2 capable modem?So why the same price for a prepaid user when he doesn't get the 7.2 modem?
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Because you guys have been complaining that contract users get no advantage for committing to a contract. ;)
 
TimTDP said:
why don't VC just drop data rates and simply have one rate for all, and charge only for the data you use. Keep it nice and simple for all. no moans about roll over etc. No difficult accounting for VC (somewhere I read that VC don't allow roll over is because their accounting sytems can't handle it. It is too complicated) And then less fortunate people can also experience true Internet and the benefits thereof. Would be a wonderful social responsibility pr initiative
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And that's were we're heading.

Getting a flat-rate product in place is an obvious first step. The Products guys have a long term plan for what's going to happen and this is the 3rd phase in that plan. We're already planning phase 7, so things are happening. ;)
 
hsdpasa said:
Comparing this to Telkom 3GIG product makes this much more expensive.

Vodacom:
MyGig 3 (Advanced) R799.00 0.26/MB(OOB)

Telkom:
Do on the move 3GB R489.00 R0.30(OOB)
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Yep - I think whoever thought out these new products was on drugs

We hate telkom, but now there is a middle-man using telkom's Cables, doubling the price, and expects people to pay that?
 
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You guys will have to excuse me, while I take a moment to not give a shiaite. This is NOT a better value proposition, in any way.

I fail to see how paying R150 more for say a 2GB package (R599 versus R450 odd) to get cheaper out of bundle for "in-case bandwidth overruns" is better value.
Buy a bigger package or top up, without rollover, for same effect.

You can actaully feel the Voda number crunchers striving for the point that the profit margin is exactly the same (or perhaps a little better ;)) on this package as the standard packages.

7.2mbps speeds will very rarely be attained for the immediate future by Vodacoms admission, and it is already available for cheaper on Telkom HSDPA.

So please attempt to bore me some more Vodacom, while I go play a round of golf.
 
I have to say that I am super disappointed with the new package. Yet another overpriced service from Vodacom. The pricing is absolutely ludicrous. I'll be staying with my 10GB Neotel connection thank you very much, and still can't wait for my HSDPA contract to expire. I will not be renewing it. Vodacom has been ripping me off for long enough now. R800 for 3GB? Are you guys high? Some people don't even spend that on groceries.
 
Abe said:
Please stop calling this data roll-over. It's nothing more then a "up to" 60 day bundle.
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+1
km2 said:
Your old product makes your new product look bad, that's a serious problem with the old product ;)
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Have Vodacom created the Windows Vista of broadband products? :p

Is it possible to add a data bundle to an existing voice contract for two years and get a free modem, or does it have to be on a separate SIM?
 
there are only two types of people who use hsdpa whether it be prepaid or contract:

those who hate their money

and those who cant count.

they rely on clever marketing and fancy terms to con people into buying these supposedly 'value added services' and whatever other fancy out of bundle terms they can come up with. if you wrap bull***** up and tie a golden ribbon around it then some people will certainly buy into it.

the fact that it's still being debated is even more sickening. people always complain about high prices but on the other hand there are too many who accept and pay these high prices. as a consequence of this things will never change.
 
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