EDGE costs same as HSDPA according to Voda website

[Deiphos]

- waiting for Telkodemonopolies is equivalent to waiting for disaster...

I would agree, but I can see now what telkom is going to do, it doesn't take a genius to do that

Telkom (only capitalised because it is the beginning of a sentence ) will simply agree with Vodacom and then increase their access price to the SAT3 cable, it is simple telkom reasoning, they only think that we (and Vodacom) won't notice and then say but you cannot compare ...

In my opinion Vodacom should lay the cables, and then use a satelite to relay all their traffic to the rest of the world, it won't hurt customers because in my opinion you don't go out and purchase a wireless internet package for gaming, so pings don't play a role here.

If you went and purchased a 1gig HSDPA package for over R600 p/m, for gaming, then I don't understand your reasoning.

I was also caught of guard with the prices, I am not blaming anyone, but if memory serves, upgrading all swap out clients to HSDPA tarriffs with no price decrease could have been obscured a bit. So I am in the process of finding an outlet where I can get my HSDPA card swapped back for a 3G one, and this time I will make sure that it has not got the 'Novatel' name inscribed on it.

 

[MrGray]

If you upgraded between the Friday afternoon we announced the free upgrade to HSDPA and the following Sunday morning we announced the new 3G tariffs (a time difference of around 36 hours), I'll personally refund you any monies lost.

If not, I'll venture you suffer from selective memory loss.

Not ONE reseller or Vodacom service provider that we contacted informed us about the new tariffs when we upgraded to HSDPA. They seem hard pressed to even understand the packages themselves. Where were the tariffs publicised (apart from on MyAdsl)? In any of Vodacom's comprehensive ad campaigns? Which press ran stories on the new tariffs? Why did Vodacom service providers (like Smartcall, for one) not inform client's who upgarded to HSDPA that they would be paying a different tariff?

So, again. Thanks for all the sarcasm and butt covering, but it's really irrelevant to us anyway, as I've posted, elsewhere, we're switching all our data sites to MTN since Vodacom's data service really doesn't seem to work very well for us anyway, and we look forward to even more choice when WiMax emerges.

Vodacom has run a major ad campaign for 1.8mbps HSDPA (which speed we, or anyone we know have yet to experience) - seems they could have had ample oppurtunity to mention in the advertisement that using an HSDPA card makes ALL your data cost 20% more.

 

[Deiphos]

using an HSDPA card makes ALL your data cost 20% more.

Oooo
You lost the buck somewhere, your data costs haven't changed at all since HSDPA came along. If you had 3G before you upgraded to HSDPA, you will be paying the exact same amount that you would have on vanilla 3G. HSDPA took over the old 3G pricing model, it didn't increase or anything.
Vodacom reduced the 3G only price by 20%, there were no price-hikes. So if you were paying R600 odd you will still be paying that for HSDPA. But money talks, so I am going down to 3G only

 

[ibanez]

The area I live in only has GPRS/EDGE coverage. I swapped my 3G card for the HSDPA one to upgrade from GPRS to EDGE. (More like GPRS+ with average speeds of 70Kbps)

In my opinion, consumption should be usage based per the level of coverage offered.

Makes sense to charge me per the speed my adapter could connect at, but without the supporting infrastructure, from a Vodacom perspective.

 

[vodacom3g]

Not ONE reseller or Vodacom service provider that we contacted informed us about the new tariffs when we upgraded to HSDPA. They seem hard pressed to even understand the packages themselves. Where were the tariffs publicised (apart from on MyAdsl)? In any of Vodacom's comprehensive ad campaigns? Which press ran stories on the new tariffs? Why did Vodacom service providers (like Smartcall, for one) not inform client's who upgarded to HSDPA that they would be paying a different tariff?

It was all over the press, any price reduction from the telecoms providers normally gets massive exposure. Not only in editorials but also in the adds Vodacom ran. It was on vodacom.co.za (which led to an outcry by this community about claiming to be the cheapest in the world!)

So, again. Thanks for all the sarcasm and butt covering, but it's really irrelevant to us anyway, as I've posted, elsewhere, we're switching all our data sites to MTN since Vodacom's data service really doesn't seem to work very well for us anyway, and we look forward to even more choice when WiMax emerges.

No sarcasm intended, but fair's fair. Vodacom did its best to inform people about the price drops. If you feel you should migrate back to 3G, I'll help you, no problem.

I did PM you about your telemetry problems but did not get any reply. Would have loved to sort it out for you, as I said in the PM, telemetry is very close to my hart.

Vodacom has run a major ad campaign for 1.8mbps HSDPA (which speed we, or anyone we know have yet to experience) - seems they could have had ample oppurtunity to mention in the advertisement that using an HSDPA card makes ALL your data cost 20% more.

As already posted above, there was no price increase. With HSDPA you just got a speed increase.

Max speed is 1.8Mb/s, highest I've seen (often) is between 1.6 and 1.7Mb/s. A number of forumites have posted similar results. The highest documented (via screenshot) post on the forum is 1.77Mb/s. As close as anyone will get to 1.8Mb/s, I'd venture.

Any network goes through cycles of congestion and upgrade and can affect speeds depending on the load/capability at any given point in time.

 

[vodacom3g]

The area I live in only has GPRS/EDGE coverage. I swapped my 3G card for the HSDPA one to upgrade from GPRS to EDGE. (More like GPRS+ with average speeds of 70Kbps)

In my opinion, consumption should be usage based per the level of coverage offered.

Makes sense to charge me per the speed my adapter could connect at, but without the supporting infrastructure, from a Vodacom perspective.

Got your PM, thanks. Agree yours is a case in point for running EDGE on the lower tariff (even if you have HSDPA capability).

First price is to get you HSDPA, I know the guys have been looking at your area.

 

[MrGray]

As already posted above, there was no price increase. With HSDPA you just got a speed increase.

That's just being disingenious. The fact is, Vodacom effectively decreased the price of everything except for HSDPA, and that was not widely publicised at the time.

 

[vodacom3g]

...I don't know if the mainstream media got the same info and just ignored it ...

All press releases go to the media, including all newspapers and other publications, etc. And at the same time.

However myADSL normally breaks the news first. being a real-rime, on-line forum with a very much 'real-time, on-line' editor, who normally runs at a very high rpm.