ISP Connection Fees

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boyequal

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Vumatel is busy rolling out fibre in my area, so hopefully within the next couple of weeks I'll be able to ditch the Telkom.

Anyway, I am busy perusing ISP offerings and noticed that some ISPs charge connection fees (apart from the Vumatel installation fee) bordering on a R1k. Why is that? Does Vuma charge to connect the client from one provider to another? Or is it just a means to keep the client on the network?

I know this will differ from ISP to ISP, but does anyone know if they charge a migration connection fee of some sort if you want to change your package on the network?

Thanks!
 
Vuma charges ISPS a R999 connection fee. Some choose to absorb the cost, some don't.

If you cancel with ISP A, and move to ISP B (who charge the R999 connection fee), you'll have to pay it again.

With so many not charging the R999 fee, I see no reason why you'd want to go with one that does (apart from CrystalWeb, as their intro prices are so low you'll make that connection fee back within a few months).
 
Vumatel charge ISPs these fees. As an ISP, we cannot absorb R999 for every connection on top of making monthly subs ridiculously low. We simply pass these exact cost on to end users without adding any markup as we have no intention of making money from an install that we had nothing to do with. These are simply install fees from Vuma, and in all likelihood, a mechanism to have ISPs and end users fund a portion of their network rollouts...
 
I prefer Crystal Fibre's policy of charging the connection fee upfront.

N.B. some ISPs do not charge the connection upfront - instead when you cancel service. Case in point, Web Africa...

No setup fees, boom! That's a saving of R999. Please note: Should you cancel your services, you will become liable for the setup fees.

source
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the information. I thought as much, just wanted to confirm :)

By the way, does Crystal Web charge a migration fee if I want to move between packages?
 
boyequal said:
Thanks for the information. I thought as much, just wanted to confirm :)

By the way, does Crystal Web charge a migration fee if I want to move between packages?
Click to expand...

Nope, but Vumatel occasionally charge a change package fee on their end but I'll need to confirm for you...
 
As a suggestion I would recommend that you check each providers offering. It's easier to understand what is upfront and where there are claw backs should you cancel. All Fibre providers charge the connection fee. Also check the monthly fee as well. Whilst you might think the ISP that doesn't charge the connection fee but the monthly is rents is usually higher. Also the packages differ. Checkout Www.home-connect.co.za which has competitive packages.
 
We at CISP don't charge a connection fee and are completely month to month, we believe that our customers should stay with us because they want to. We were the first ISP to absorb the connection fee for our customers. There are no hidden T's and C's.
 
So I already have FTTH through a Telkom "trial" period, no contract, they just replaced my Adsl with fiber and after the trial I will revert to the equivalent of my Adsl which was 4Mbps/20Gb p.m. They ibncluded a router and Voip.
I know i will need Voip and a router if switching.
Do I still pay the full connection fees?
 
PBCool, does CISP charge the connection fee when the service is cancelled?
 
PBCool said:
We at CISP don't charge a connection fee and are completely month to month, we believe that our customers should stay with us because they want to. We were the first ISP to absorb the connection fee for our customers. There are no hidden T's and C's.
Click to expand...

Is this a new thing? For the Mitsol pricing there is a connection fee shown.
 
Hi Fluttershy, this comment was around the Vumatel network specifically. Also keep in mind the difference between a connection fee and installation fee. We absorb the same costs one way or another on the different networks.
 
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