"Free" Vodacom Internet!

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74466 said:
@V3G

Okay, could you find out for us, as i may be very wrong here, BUT if i am right we could all benifit.

Vodacom (WITH VODAFONE AS PARTNER) buys all their bandwidth and intl calls etc from telkom right...

Now this part i am not too sure of, but i take it that a company like vodafone, them being vodafone, would own some amount of sattelites, so if this is correct, wont it be possible for them to bypass telkom, and send/recieve international bandwidth via sattelite routing it through the UK networks, which in turn would bring vodacom bandwidth prices down?
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Investigating direct international connectivity is progressing nicely.
 
redarrow said:
Can someone please tell me what precisely a "fair usage policy" means :confused: :o
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In mobile terms it's usually 1-2GB which is enough for my needs even with p2p. In SA terms probably 100MB. :(
vodacom3g said:
Investigating direct international connectivity is progressing nicely.
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Sounds like finally something is happening in this country. V3g, are you at liberty to say how much Vodacom is using their right to self provide bandwidth if at all?
 
Prometheus said:
V3g, are you at liberty to say how much Vodacom is using their right to self provide bandwidth if at all?
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Obviously something like the right to self-provide is taken very seriously and is being examined carefully.

In reality you don't just pop up a transmission network overnight. Issues like right-of-way and land ownership plays a major role.
 
'Fair Usage Policies' have created quite a lot of friction in the UK as consumers and Service Providers will never agree on the definition of 'fair'.

Reading UK computing and communications mags shows a huge amount of discontent.
 
vodacom3g said:
Obviously something like the right to self-provide is taken very seriously and is being examined carefully.

In reality you don't just pop up a transmission network overnight. Issues like right-of-way and land ownership plays a major role.
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I realise that probably more than anyone on this forum. Everyone wants to be "in touch" but nobody wants to have a cell tower anywhere near them. Then whenever you find a suitable spot there is the objection about an endangered ant or something which is probably found all over the country. What I want to know is how much is Vodacom actually doing about self providing. If Telkom can already provide links between towers then the issue over land and right-of-way can probably be overcome for the "right amount". Or maybe an even better idea would be to petition the gov to force Telkom to sell such separate infrastructure like links between two points at a reasonable price as it would become redundant anyway.
redarrow said:
Ah OK ...
So it's just a clever way of making a capped account sound uncapped ? :rolleyes:

Still at a decent fixed fee (decent = sub R200) such a thing would be welcome for my needs ;)
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Yip, but as we don't have this yet the idea would be less welcome here than elsewhere. In other countries you use a fixed line as your primary connection where there is always a 100GB+ account available from some isp and a mobile account is just an add-on for people who want to always have a connection available to them. 2GB is virtually uncapped then as you don't need more. Here however a fixed line is too expensive and you have to wait months for it to be installed so everyone who uses a mobile account wants to use it as their primary connection. A 2GB account would therefor not be considered uncapped.

But as you say at a decent fee of R150-R200 for 2-3GB it would be more than welcome here as long as they don't call it uncapped or put any other restrictions on it. An additional service offering 30GB local would also be welcome.
 
I've been surfing the web like a crazy person lately and no deductions has been made to my incredibly rich 24cent airtime balance. Is this normal?
 
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frans said:
I've been surfing the web like a crazy person lately and no deductions has been made to my incredibly rich 24cent airtime balance. Is this normal?
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mmmm....seems your VLIVE apn is still working fine,strange. Usage of the vlive apn was free for a very long time, till vodacom stopped it some time ago. But there’s still people(not just you frans) that are getting NO deductions from their airtime when using the vlive apn,while others are paying the normal R2 per mb.

50c per MB is realy cheap compared to R2 from Vodacom...I heard that the PPDB launch was imminent,seems like I heard wrong...
 
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vodacom3g said:
'Fair Usage Policies' have created quite a lot of friction in the UK as consumers and Service Providers will never agree on the definition of 'fair'.

Reading UK computing and communications mags shows a huge amount of discontent.
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This has a lot to do with providers becoming increasingly overbearing. It went from restricting a small number of people running their lines at capacity 24 hours a day to harassing people who were just using 50-100Mb during the day.

And you have the likes of Vodafone advertising an uncapped mobile broadband account where the small print says it is restricted to 1Gb per month. That's just blatant false advertising.
 
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frans said:
I've been surfing the web like a crazy person lately and no deductions has been made to my incredibly rich 24cent airtime balance. Is this normal?
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Not here. Can't even connect on the vlive apn now if I don't have a positive balance. So even surfing the vlive portal has become impossible.
ld13 said:
mmmm....seems your VLIVE apn is still working fine,strange. Usage of the vlive apn was free for a very long time, till vodacom stopped it some time ago. But there’s still people(not just you frans) that are getting NO deductions from their airtime when using the vlive apn,while others are paying the normal R2 per mb.
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But I would like to know what makes it different for them. Could it be the phones they are using or is it perhaps random. Seems like Vodacom's new system is not working correctly.
 
This is what I know...

Prometheus said:
But I would like to know what makes it different for them. Could it be the phones they are using or is it perhaps random. Seems like Vodacom's new system is not working correctly.
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Friend 1: Has Vlive phone.Vlive apn.Free Internet.Family TopUp.Samsung E860v.

Friend 2: Does not have Vlive phone.Vlive apn.NO Internet.PrePaid and Family TopUp.Sony Erricson W550i & Nokia 6320.
Gets a "Authentication" error when trying to connect.

BUT...When Friend1 puts his SIM into Friend2's Non-Vlive phone....Free Internet
BUT...When Friend2 puts his SIM into Friend1's Vlive phone....No Free Internet,R2 per MB

[EDIT]99% of this info I gathered myself, the other 1% will be personally checked by me ASAP![/EDIT]

Strange,strange,strange...
 
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Sounds very strange indeed, but appears to be SIM card based. Maybe we should compare batch or phone numbers instead. Vodacom's vlive service is still full of 'holes' whatever the case may be. Surfing from the pc seems to have ended completely though until someone discovers the new flaws and believe me they are there.
 
Yea, well i cant get on vlive via the free settings at all, Now i am so very gladd i did not subscribe to the streaming video as that would have been a waste of good $$$
 
sky.akash said:
maybe the original free vlive and internet apn was just a gimmick to get people hooked onto the internet, then to nail them later on
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Close, but no cigar.

A lot of corporates use this is similar marketing approach. I call it the "drug dealer" model.

1. Give them a taste
2. Get them hooked.
3. Build your client base
4. Cut their supply
5. Make them pay

ABSA used this successfully to build up their Internet banking customer base.
 
Prometheus said:
Sounds very strange indeed, but appears to be SIM card based. Maybe we should compare batch or phone numbers instead. Vodacom's vlive service is still full of 'holes' whatever the case may be. Surfing from the pc seems to have ended completely though until someone discovers the new flaws and believe me they are there.
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maybe depends on whether vodafone branded phone issued with contract as well data usage per month. abuse the free usage and you get kicked off
 
are we still flogging this dead goat? Vlive is finished, its over. she no more free!!! lets move on please...
 
GayTechie said:
are we still flogging this dead goat? Vlive is finished, its over. she no more free!!! lets move on please...
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Correction!!! Some people are still reporting that their connection is working and for free. So if it is a goat that we are flogging then it ain't dead yet.
 
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