ADSL Pricing

rpm

rpm

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Hi folks

I am currently busy with an article on comparative costs for the article section, and thought I can just give you some info so long. It is amazing to realize how badly we are being ripped off. The main cost of Telkom’s ADSL comes from charges other than bandwidth related. Since there is a 0% import charge on most IT related technologies, it is simply unacceptable. Have a look:

Country SA UK US Australia Japan
Company Telkom BT Earthlink WAN Yahoo BB
Service 512 512 512 512 8 Mbps
Rest 3 Gig None None None None
Monthly 899-00 P 27-00 $ 49-95** A$ 99-00 Y 2730*
Inst 404-00 Free Free A$ 163-90 Free*
Modem 1499-98 Free Free A$ 118-00 Free*
Total 12692 P 324 $ 515.40 A$ 1469.9 Y 32760.00*
US $ $ 1850 $ 540 $ 515.40 $ 1006.66 $ 296.50

I will try to finish this article as soon as possible. I think we have something substantial here. There is no reason for overcharging customers to the extend that they are doing.

Regards,


RPM
[email protected]
 
Unbelievable!

I think the deeper we dig, the more we're going to find out and the closer to the truth we're going to get. And I don't think we're going to be very happy with the answers.

I look forward to reading your article when it's complete. Thanks RPM!


----------------
United we stand!
----------------
 
You have a mistake:

Earthlink DSL is 1.5 Mbps, not 0.5.

https://register.earthlink.net/cgi-bin/wsisa.dll/broadband/speed.html?drn=f85a870dcf1168183926a99cf165520b



In addition, the YahooBB Japan's English version can be found here: http://www.bbapply.com/

¥3,838/month for 26 Mbps DSL.


If you want, here is Canada:

Bell Sympatico DSL

Service: 1.5 Mbps
Restrictions: None
Montly rate: C$44.95*
Installation: None
Modem: None
Total: C$479.40

Price in US$: 356.56


* First three months are C$24.95.



To be honest with you, I don't think Japan is a good choice to throw in. The population density is super, super high. The country is smaller than California (1/4 the size of South Africa) with 130 million people [four times that of California, and three times that of South Africa].
 
Well, Yahoo Japan is offer 26 Mbps DSL for R240 a month. Now I'm a little disturbed by that, until I researched a bit more.

It seems their competition is NTT (Nikkon Telephone and Telegraph). NTT is offering 100 Mbps fiber for R565 a month. Among other things.

http://www.amplifynet.com/news/pressrel/2003/pr030211.html

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">NTT's B-FLET's is FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) network service through NTT East and NTT West fiber-optic IP network subscriber lines. Tailored to address the access needs of different types of subscribers, B-FLET's offers 3 categories of service:

Basic Type -- Service charge of ¥9.000/month at speeds up to 100 Mbps

Family Type -- Service charge of ¥5,000/month at speeds up to 10 Mbps, shared among multiple subscribers

Mansion (Condominium) Type --
¥3,800/month at speeds up to 100 Mbps, shared by a minimum of 10 subscribers living in the same condominium buildings

¥1,200/month at speeds up to 10 Mbps using existing telephone wiring to create a LAN with PNA (Phoneline Network Alliance) hardware
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

http://www.itta.com/staffedit08.01.htm

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">NTT and Yahoo Japan are fighting for the same market but are offering divergent broadband technologies and infrastructures. This competition bodes well for the future of Japan's broadband market. NTT is offering high-speed Internet access via their fiber-optic network. Yahoo Japan, backed by majority owner Softbank, is offering an Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) service. NTT's fiber optic network can deliver connection rates approaching 100 mbps, which is lightyears faster than conventional ISDN or analog dialup modems which do not exceed 64kbps connection rates. NTT is providing this service for between 11,000 to 6,000 yen per month depending on the service speed. Yahoo Japan's ADSL service is slower at 8Mbps, but at a cost of 2,280yen per month, will be an attractive option.

Yahoo Japan aims to acquire one million ADSL subscribers by December and there is a high likelihood they will succeed. Because DSL broadband solutions run on standard copper telephone lines, Yahoo Japan can, in theory, target the entire nation with their service. In contrast NTT's fiber optic network is still centralized in Tokyo and Osaka, and remains several years away from becoming a nationwide network. However, NTT is currently the largest provider of DSL service in Japan, with 62 percent of all DSL users, and is offering competitive rates. NTT DSL service provides 1.5 mbps for between 3,800 to 4,050 yen per month.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

1,000 Yen = R 60.



Now I'm ready to cry.
 
Hi Jerrek

Thanks for the feedback.

When I looked the pricing for Earthlink (https://register.earthlink.net/cgi-bin/wsisa.dll/broadband/pricing.html?drn=f85a870dcf1168183926a99cf165520b) I found the same information I published on the web. Thanks for the Yahoo BB link, I will update my article.

Regards,

RPM
[email protected]
 
rpm, I must be blind, because I don't see speed listed on that page. Heh. If you click on your link though, and click on Speed, look at the picture that comes up.
 
Hi Jerrek

I just had a look again, and you are correct. The service is 1.5 Mbps. I think I looked at an outdated page that sold the 512 service. Thanks for the help :-)

Regards,

RPM
[email protected]
 
Your total cost, is that per year?

Also, I assume the monthly rate includes ISP fees in all cases?

Juice
 
Hi Juice

The Total is the total cost per year, all inclusive. It gives the clearest indication of the difference between countries. The 'article' has an updated version.

Regards,

RPM
[email protected]
 
Interesting that Australia's broadband is also relatively expensive. When did they start implementing broadband? As recent as we did? I know broadband is also fairly prevalent in New Zealand, so maybe you can include some stats from there to balance the effect. Either way, it would definately be interesting to know why .au is so expensive compared to the rest of the developed world.

Juice
 
This might help you ;)

http://www.point-topic.com/home/operatorSource/profiles.asp?col=Retail_ADSL_services

Juice
 
Had a look at NZ just to satisfy my own curiosity.

In NZ, you pay for the installation, the filter and the wiring. You are also expected to buy your own ADSL modem. I don't know what the exchange rate is, but it all amounts to a good few NZ$. You then need to sign up with an ISP. Nothing strange there. The really interesting part was the following, which relates to the fees charged by a specific ISP called Xtra:

"$0.10 per MB for international traffic over 5000 MB usage limit"

This is part of the ISP's fees. Superficially, at least, it seems that the ISP has some control over the cap. NZ bandwidth is also capped, but the part I found REALLY interesting is that they could distinguish between local and international bandwidth. Now, if Telkom's justification for the cap is the strain on international bandwidth, why don't they just split out the local traffic from the cap and apply the cap to international bandwidth? In all honesty, I wouldn't be so disillusioned with the cap if it only applied to international bandwidth and <i>only international bandwidth contributed to it</i>.

Furthermore, Telkom is a fairly young contender in the ADSL market. One would have thought that they'd have learned from ADSL implementations the world over and would have selected those policies and technologies that would best suit our local market. It seems that they did not.

Juice
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Juice</i>
<br />Had a look at NZ just to satisfy my own curiosity.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

http://www.ihug.co.nz/products/connection/jetstream/index.html

Here is a good NZ ISP (nice happy site)

Exchange rate is R4.10 == $NZ1.00

Seems like the 128K - 10GB Intenational - Unlimited National for R267.00 is quite reasonable.

If the kiwis can do it where they are why can we not ??
 
I just looked at what I wrote - S#it, R267.00 per month for

128K - 10GB International - Unlimited National - 10MB webspace - in New Zealand !!!.

If we could have this we could win the world cup ...mmmmmmmm

added : <font color="red">AND they have a SLA</font id="red">
 
Some more options from kiwiland

http://www.worldnet.co.nz/en/products/?menu=adslcost

I though NZ was at the bottom of the world - seems like Telkom has taken us there - The government just sits while we fall off the bottom of the earth. Oh dear oh dear
 
Telecoms operators in other countries use the term "Megabits" or "Mbps", but Telscum don't have this in their home user's dictionary.[:0]
 
BTW, Hans VD Groenendal told me that when BT (UK) came over to visit, they were impressed with Telkom's ADSL implementation. OF COURSE THEY WOULD BE! One of the new SNO's is made up of BT executives!!!!
Oh, it just makes you want to cry at the naivette of the Telkom directorate.
 
I have done a bit of digging as well about ADSL cost in NZ, and there are indeed some similarities with SA (as well as some differences).

Although the telecoms industry has been deregulated since around 1999, and any ISP can supply their own last mile BB, most ISP's seems to be simply reselling the ADSL offering from NZ Telecom.

I have used an exchange rate of R4 instead of R4.1 - R4.2 to simlify the math a bit. $ are NZ Dollars.

The NZ Telecom ADSL service is called JetSpead, and pricing for all packages consists of:

<b>Installation</b>
Connection fee $99 (R400). Charged by Telecom to ADSL enable your line.
Wiring fee (optional) $150 (R600) for a Telecom techie to come and install filters etc.
$50 (R200) - optional if you want the techie to configure your modem as well.
So NZ Telecom charges about R1200 for what Telkom charges R404 for, but some of the components are optional, maybe something Telkom can look at.

<b>Monthly line rental</b>
$30 - $70 (R120 - R280) depending on package, charged by Telecom.
This is very much cheaper than the Telkom line rental.

<b>Monthly ISP service fee</b>
Obviously varies between ISP's, but generally in the region of $10 - $40 (R40 - R160), depending on package.

Telecom offers 3 types of packages for residential users.

The entry level package is the JetStart package (formerly known as Jetstream Starter).
This package is 128kb only, with unlimited national, and international capped at either 10GB or 15GB. Extra traffic is billed at $0.05/MB = R200/GB.
Monthly telecom line rental is $30 (R120)
ISP fees are mostly around $30 as well, so your total monthly would be $60 = R240, providing you don't exceed your cap.
This package seems very reasonable, especially for users who don't need the raw speed, and Telkom would probably find many users who would be more than happy to sign up for a similar package.

If you want more speed, though, the picture changes quite dramatically.
The JetStream Home (256kb) packages are only slightly higher in terms of Telecom line rental, but the caps are quite low (500MB, 1GB, and 2GB). Caps are combined national and international. I did read somewhere that national bandwidth is only measured at a 1:10 ratio compared to international. So if you used 1GB of international bandwith, and 1GB of national, your combined total would be 1GB + 100MB = 1.1GB, and you would still have 900MB available if your cap was 2GB. (Maybe also something Telkom can consider)
Additional traffic, however, is charged at $0.20/MB = R800/GB = VERY EXPENSIVE. Also, traffic is billed directly by Telecom, not your ISP, so you can't get around these caps by buying extra accounts.

So a 3GB 256k package would typically cost:
$60 Telecom line rental (2GB cap)
$20 ISP fee (on average)
$200 for extra 1GB traffic
Total = $280 = R1120
Downloading 10GB/pm would set you back a very cool $60 + $20 + 9*$200 = $1880 = R7520

You also get 2-8Mbs packages, again with only slightly higher line rentals, but with similar caps and the same charges for extra MB's.

The following sound familiar?
"For JetStream, we do not guarantee bandwidth, latency (delay) or bit rate through our broadband network to the ISP, at any one point in time."

"JetStream is provided on a Best Effort basis, with unspecified bit rate and no guaranteed minimum performance."

http://www.telecom.co.nz/content/0,3900,200344-200550,00.html

Granted, NZ Telecom's "best efforts" are probably miles ahead of Telkom's [:D]

Wanna compare prices yourself?
http://www.newzealandwebsites.com/Internet_and_Computers/ISP/
http://www.newzealandisp.orcon.net.nz/nationalisp.htm

Chez
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by ChezAnwyne</i>
<br />I have done a bit of digging as well about ADSL cost in NZ, and there are indeed some similarities with SA (as well as some differences).<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Hi Chez,

good research,

Of course hardly anyone in NZ is taking the packages you have found which are on offer from NZ Telecom, because there are many, many options from various ISPs.

You can get adsl with 12GB for R267.00.
No limit on national usage is standard.

There is a new offer available right now:

check this out:

http://www.ihug.com.au/getultra/adsl-pricing.html

The Top of the range offers:
<font size="3"><b><font color="red">1.5Mbps / 256K - unlimited usage - R956.00 per month</font id="red"></b></font id="size3">

Telkom does not touch sides with these packages.
Just shows what competition can do for the consumer.

btw: NZ Telecom recently increased its profits by 11% over last year
and ihug is a rock solid ISP - so it can be done profitably.

Why not here ????
 
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