'Mobile data prices will fall further'

Vodacom’s recent announcement that it will reduce its data rates by 20% was applauded by the broadband community, but this is not the last reduction in the pipeline.
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I certainly didnt clap - their prices went from ridiculously high to barely acceptable meanwhile the operators in other countries appear to be actively competing for the title of the world's cheapest.

If memory serves telkom also said that their data rates will also fall so I'll put vodacom's promises in the same IBIWISI category.
 
Yeah, I don't think a 20% reduction is significant when the previous decrease (R50/Mb tro R2/MB) was 96%. Their marginal bandwidth costs are still far too high to compete in the >1Gb category.
 
Gatecrasher : Their prices are pretty damn good (even internationally) for mobile data. I cant think of one SA supplier that is cheaper
 
If what they are saying is correct, the 1Gb package will drop from R499 per month to R399 per month. Thats good if you ask me.
Why am I on iBurst again?
:p
 
JStrike said:
Gatecrasher : Their prices are pretty damn good (even internationally) for mobile data. I cant think of one SA supplier that is cheaper
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Yes, but if it is their intention to compete with ADSL, as the article suggests, they are going to have to slash their marginal cost per Gb. R399 (3G) /R499 (HSDPA) per Gb is not going to compete with R75/Gb (ADSL). 20% increments are useless.

Because thee is no monthy line charge, 3G and HSDPA, are undoubtably the best broadband options available in SA for data usage up to 1Gb. But beyond 1Gb the marginal bandwidth charges kill the product.

They need some sliding structure like:

1Gb = R399
2Gb = R699 ( currently R798)
3Gb = R899 ( currently R1197)
5Gb = R1199 (currently R2495)
10Gb = R1999 (currently R3990)

That's if they really want to compete with ADSL.
 
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I really doubt they will get many people for online gaming as latency could be a problem not to mention useage , try playing bf2 for a few hours on adsl and see how much you use , now work out how much that will cost you on this package , telkom adsl is still the best and only option for online gaming . Say i use 15 gigs a month on gaming , imagine how much that will cost .

Yes it is mobile , but gamers spend lots of money on a desktop pc , with a big screen and joysticks sound set ups ect ect only a handfull of gamers use laptops and then it is for laning . If online solitaire is your thing and latency does not mean a problem and it uses very little bandwidth then yes it could be a moble gaming soltuion , but for people who actually play games and who have a better understanding of what is REALLY going on , this is just a farce .
 
Gatecrasher : They have an advantage over adsl (and most other broadband offerings) which is their portability. For many, it is worth the higher price. But the price is still good for what you get, and the prices will come down even further
 
JStrike said:
Gatecrasher : They have an advantage over adsl (and most other broadband offerings) which is their portability. For many, it is worth the higher price. But the price is still good for what you get, and the prices will come down even further
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Which is why I say it is the best broadband option for data usage up to 1Gb.

But they are not competing with ADSL in that arena. They are competing with dial-up, Iburst I-go and Sentech Flexi.
 
JStrike said:
Gatecrasher : They have an advantage over adsl (and most other broadband offerings) which is their portability.
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I - and it would seem T-mobile UK agrees - dont believe portability should be a reason to charge more.
 
Don't buyt that

kaspaas said:
Interesting!

Telkom a constraint to Vodacom...
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article said:
but that there are constraint like their reliance on Telkom for backhaul and environmental approval.
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Telkom (51% Voda) have to rely on Telkom for backhaul and environmental approval = Telkom using their monopolistic attitude to slow down any possible competition.
 
bwana : T-Mobile UK, taken from their website, is £90 for 1024MB. Doesn't seem that much better to me. In fact, Voda seems a bit cheaper
 
bwana : So it is in the same boat as Voda and their promise of reduced prices. i.e No result yet, but seems to have the right intentions
 
JStrike said:
bwana : So it is in the same boat as Voda and their promise of reduced prices. i.e No result yet, but seems to have the right intentions
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On the contrary - unlike vodacom's imminent price reductions - subject to this that and the other thing - T-mobile is already letting customers have it
Or you can add web ‘n’ walk professional to a voice price plan for just £8.50 (excluding VAT) per month.
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Although uncapped actually means 2gb for some odd UK marketing tactic you'll be pleased to note that for the price of one vodacom gb you'd get 6gb over there.
 
Wake me up when we get the equivalent price, around R100 for 'uncapped' mobile access, even if its only up to 2 gigs traffic, its a far cry from our costs here.
 
bwana : Dont mean to nitpick, but Web 'n Walk costs £19.99 pm

But point is nevertheless taken. Hopefully Voda's next cut is quite nice (Or smaller more frequent cuts would be appreciated)
 
He pointed out that the costs associated with technology and broadband rollouts must be recovered, but as these cost are covered and as the user base grows data prices will continue to fall.
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Why is it that the rest of the world decrease prices so that the user base can grow and SA seems to be unable to gather the brain matter to realise this.
They pointed out that they are rolling out additional sites as fast as possible, but that there are constraint like their reliance on Telkom for backhaul and environmental approval
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Why the hell did ICASA give them permission to lay their own fibre networks.
 
JStrike said:
bwana : Dont mean to nitpick, but Web 'n Walk costs £19.99 pm

But point is nevertheless taken. Hopefully Voda's next cut is quite nice (Or smaller more frequent cuts would be appreciated)
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Yes - and if you already have a T-mobile account then its an add-on of £8.50. Since we currently have a few accounts with them already this is the price that I'm interested in. :)
Prometheus said:
Why the hell did ICASA give them permission to lay their own fibre networks.
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Why? So they could self-provide and slash their costs dramatically. Havent you noticed the massive across the board savings? :rolleyes:
 
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