Cell C will fight 4Gs ASA ruling

[Jola]

Anyhow, you are of course entitled to lodge a complaint with the ASA about the Gambling Industry.

Indeed, I will take this up as soon as I have a bit more time.

 

[Jola]

*Only available in 24GB and higher quantities
*Usage is rationed per month (2GB or 5GB)
*Requires the purchase of at least a R1000 bundle
*Coverage only in 7 of SA's major cities
*Requires UMTS 900mhz hardware (sold separately)
*Typical speeds equivalent to 3.5G (3.6mbps ~ 7.2mbps)
*No topup options once your 2GB or 5GB cap is reached
*Out of bundle rate of R400 per GB will apply

None of that bothers me. If I need more than 5GB per month, then I will buy another 5GB per month SIM.

 

[Rouxenator]

None of that bothers me. If I need more than 5GB per month, then I will buy another 5GB per month SIM.

Very elegant solution:erm:

 

[ngwenyas]

Cell C make me laugh, clearly they are tricking consumers...i wonder what happens when the consumer act kicks in?

 

[TwoCents1000]

The reasonable man on the street will not make any association, he doesn't know what 2G or 3G or 4G is !

Exactly because the 'reasonable man in the street' does not know what 2G / 3G / 4G is, WILL he make that association.

As the ASA stated, 3G as a concept, term and product is well established as a descriptor for mobile broadband. So the 'reasonable man' directly equates 3G with the typical services you can buy today from Vodacom, MTN and Telkom. They also will most likely understand that 2G is the older, slower stuff. (Just like you would expect a 100W amp to be 'better' than a 50W amp, even if it's not the case.)

It then logically flows that '4G' or '4Gs' must be better than 3G, potentially to the level that the 4G specification implies. And this is the actual basis of the ASA ruling. The 'reasonable man in the street' will automatically assume 4G must be better than 3G, probably in the same magnitute that 3G was better than 2G.

 

[Tomasz-London]

*Only available in 24GB and higher quantities
*Usage is rationed per month (2GB or 5GB)
*Requires the purchase of at least a R1000 bundle
*Coverage only in East London, Port Elizabeth and Durban
*Requires UMTS 900mhz hardware (sold separately)
*Typical speeds equivalent to 3.5G (3.6mbps ~ 7.2mbps)
*No topup options once your 2GB or 5GB cap is reached
*Out of bundle rate of R400 per GB will apply

From now on ensure you add the above disclaimer to all your Cell-C glory songs.

I may be an idiot but indeed I am no fool.

You have seriously lost the plot or never had one.

 

[Rouxenator]

You have seriously lost the plot or never had one.

Are you disputing those terms and conditions?

 

[Synaesthesia]

Yes that's all correct. The following is also true:

• It works in Cape Town.
• It's damn fast.
• It's damn cheap. By far the cheapest offering around.
• The coverage area is very high and reception is very good because of the use of 900mhz, which has much better range and wall penetration than 1800-2100Mhz.

So that's why it's a good product.

 

[Rudimental]

If you wish, I just believe that this whole argument about the 4G is a bit silly, especially as their product outperforms many of the 4G services already out there.

What matters is Cell C's performance and the cost thereof. If they fail in those respects I will slate them :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

There is no such thing as 4G technology yet. Those are LTE and WiMax carriers simply lying about their products. If the ITU keeps to its schedule, we will find out this month as to just what future products will count as 4G, e.g. LTE-Advanced, 802.16m, etc...

So, no, arguments about 4G are not silly. What is silly is expecting shallow and opportunistic marketing not to get hit with a heavy hand by the advertising regulator over deliberately misleading nomenclature.

 

[Na-iem]

In effect, Cell C is pulling the same bait-and-switch deal on the user. They have misleading advertising, i.e., some people might think they are getting a 4G service, but they are really getting 3.75G (or whatever the correct designation is). Now some people are arguing that "but Cell C still offers a great deal, so stop complaining ...". Just because they are offering a good deal does not give them the right to openly practice false (or misleading) advertising. Try to keep the two arguments separate.

Okay, there are two kinds of people here: those in the know, and those who are (i.t.o. what 2G, 3G, etc are).
Now, for those in the know: they are not mislead by CellC's advertising, as they are in the know.
For those who are not in the know: will interpret CellC's 4Gs products as being much faster than competitors' 3G products, which it is.

So, which of these consumers have been misled? Please help me understand by giving an example to demonstrate which consumers are being misled.

It then logically flows that '4G' or '4Gs' must be better than 3G, potentially to the level that the 4G specification implies. And this is the actual basis of the ASA ruling. The 'reasonable man in the street' will automatically assume 4G must be better than 3G, probably in the same magnitute that 3G was better than 2G.

Well... it is. According to consumer experience, 4Gs is better than blue and yellow's 3G. You haven't actually presented an argument against CellC's use of 4Gs. In fact, you have substantiated it!

 

[Rouxenator]

You gotta fight!
For your right!

..... to 4G

 

[Imminent]

We should all be supporting positive development to broadband as a whole in SA, and right now it's CellC who are the ones doing just that! Go CellC!

vouch

 

[Keeper]

*Only available in 24GB and higher quantities

Awesome, we are all pretty tired of the 5 and 10mb bundle offerings. lame.

**Usage is rationed per month (2GB or 5GB)

Who's isn't, unless you have uncapped?

**Requires the purchase of at least a R1000 bundle

yea - once off. with Vodacom you will only get 5GB Total with that same R1000. for one month.

**Coverage only in East London, Port Elizabeth and Durban

What did you expect? Rome wasn't built in a day you know

**Requires UMTS 900mhz hardware (sold separately)

meh.... it's still cheaper with CellC, even if you DO need to buy a modem.

**Typical speeds equivalent to 3.5G (3.6mbps ~ 7.2mbps)

Oh no! they have the same speeds as vodacom! .......luckily they are 10 times cheaper though

**Out of bundle rate of R400 per GB will apply

Wow! Half Price that Vodacom charges!

 

[fvdbergh]

Well... it is. According to consumer experience, 4Gs is better than blue and yellow's 3G. You haven't actually presented an argument against CellC's use of 4Gs. In fact, you have substantiated it!

Well, we should have this discussion again a year from now, once Cell C has comparable user densities.
Remember wireless solutions simply do not scale the same way as fixed-line solutions, and their performance is primarily influenced by the number of simultaneous users on a given sector.

 

[TwoCents1000]

Well... it is. According to consumer experience, 4Gs is better than blue and yellow's 3G. You haven't actually presented an argument against CellC's use of 4Gs. In fact, you have substantiated it!

Please give us the data you based your considered analysis on, that Cell-C is better than the other networks. So much better that you can claim a generation jump (You know, from 3G to 4G). Please include average download, upload, latency areas, time of day, etc. for all the tests you've done or the data you collected. I would think a few thousand tests per network from the same location and at the time should be enough.

Cell-C desperately need this information as they were not able to provide substantive information to the ASA showing this.

But clearly you have it, so I'm sure they're anxious for your call. The ASA is funny that way, wanting proof for claims. Silly, I know. But you're going to sort them, right?

 

[darkangel]

Just because they are offering a good deal does not give them the right to openly practice false (or misleading) advertising. Try to keep the two arguments separate.

+1

 

[Moklet Kcuf]

You can't do that, there would be nobody left !

The most important thing that you have to teach small kids when they start watching TV is that you can't believe the advertisements ! Been there, done that !

Your folks missed out on your education ?

Thanks for enlightening me Trevor

 

[jomock]

Hey guys- I'm new to these forums, so bear with me:

Personally, i find the whole cell C "4GS" debate very entertaining, for the following reasons:

1) tech savvy indivduals will not be confused,

2) your average joe doesnt understand/care about the "technical" debate with 4G, but understand enough to know that they're getting a faster product at a better price,

3) MOST importantly, this issue is actually pure marketing GENIUS! Does anyone actully beleive that CellC never expected to be challenged on this? And here's the kicker:Vodacom and MTN took the bait and are playing right into Cell C's hands by challenging them. Has anyone noticed how often Cell C is being mentioned in the media throughout this whole thing? And every time the issue comes up, old Lars Reicheldt uses the opportunity to punt the benefits of his new data offering and slag the competition. Good or bad, the point is to be in the public eye, where you can pitch your product. You can't buy that kind of marketing. I take my hat off to Lars for a truly inspired marketing ploy.

...and here I am posting using my new Cell C 3g sim