Mobile data users losing out

francoisrl said:
So why use mobile internet when you can get ADSL?
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Well if there was a cable in every street and every complex and i could just "activate" it at the drop of a hat i would use it in a hardbeat. Unfortunately this is not the case, in my situation i move around often and traveling often too. So it's just not feasible to wait 6 weeks for Telkom, pay all kinds of 'installation' fees and contract lockins...and then 2 years later i have to do it all over again because i moved? No way.

spiderz said:
No, you can only load ONE bundle in a 30 day period. if it runs out, you go over to out of bundel rates.
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Go to Vodacom, they actually figured this one out already. MTN might figure it out in a year and "relaunch" the concept with great hoo-hah claiming to be first.....
 
What I would like to see from 3G service providers is:
a) providing a fair solution to these problems, where they are making money for supplying a good service;
b) real-time information on data bundles i.e. expiry date and time and usage;
c) allowing the user to choose whether they would prefer to continue surfing or whether the service must stop on data bundle depletion.
Also, iff they offered the choice of a marginally higher rate on bundles that didn't have an expiry date, I believe they'd make more money and have happier clientelle.
The first provider to offer all these options should capture the lion's share of the market.
Unfortunately, I got suckered into a contract - so I'm stuck - but the providers need to realise that I may be paying a contract for the modem, but they can't stop me using a different sim and getting data bundles and better service elsewhere. They need to wake up and smell the coffee!
 
MTN_Data_Dude said:
The statement "The fact that out-of-bundle data rates are significantly higher than in-bundle rates means that mobile broadband users must be very careful about exceeding their monthly usage limit." is fundamentally incorrect.

The R2.00/Mb rate is our standard rate and has been for several years - it has never been raised! We give significant discounts to our bundle users because they commit to larger, regular, and predictable usage which is much more attractive to us than infrequent and unpredictable usage. This allows us to do demand planning far more accurately as our total usage becomes more predictable.

A final comment - the rate of R0.19/Mb for our larger bundles is actually significantly below cost.
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This is a k:sick:k response. So after all these years, they have no idea of whats the average data being used. Do they predict usage increases for the future?

And so if everyone went on data bundles, they'd actually have to close down the service because they are running a loss with everyone getting bandwidth below cost?
 
Hi
Just to make a statement, has anyone compared the data rates that people pay in other countries....... We are not even near their pricing, we are way cheaper.

http://www.smstextnews.com/2008/05/...y_piece_of_****_mobile_data_rates_for_uk.html

Orange in the UK is also tweaking its Pay As You Consume standard, per MB rate. Orange Business Services customers who will see the standard rate reduced from £3.50 per MB for data cards and £4.50 per MB for handsets, to £2.55 per MB for both data cards and handsets. Pay Monthly customers will also see prices fall from £8 per MB to £3 per MB; and Pay as You Go customers will see prices fall from £8 per MB to £4 per MB.

Something to think about...
 
um_ah said:
I had this problem with MTN.
Took out a 2gig data bundle = end of the month i got a R3000 + phone bill!! Thought I had been reckless so started monitoring my usage, resetting the counters, even calling the helpdesk, etc
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Please check your statement carefully. MTN overcharged me and others because they bill out of bundle rates for the entire transaction that takes you over your limit. That means if you check the day before you internet is due to expire and find that you have 500Meg of usage. You then use 600Meg in 1 connection, MTN will charge you at out of bundle rates for the whole 600Meg instead of just the 100Meg that you went over.
 
Dr_Data said:
Hi
Just to make a statement, has anyone compared the data rates that people pay in other countries....... We are not even near their pricing, we are way cheaper.
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True, but the broadband situation here is different. There, mobile data is used when you're out and about; more for quick surfing to find an answer or a movie review than for downloads.

Here, adsl is so expensive (and not available everywhere), that mobile data is an actual competitor to adsl rather than a mobile supplement to it.
 
Dr_Data said:
Hi
Just to make a statement, has anyone compared the data rates that people pay in other countries....... We are not even near their pricing, we are way cheaper.

http://www.smstextnews.com/2008/05/...y_piece_of_****_mobile_data_rates_for_uk.html

Orange in the UK is also tweaking its Pay As You Consume standard, per MB rate. Orange Business Services customers who will see the standard rate reduced from £3.50 per MB for data cards and £4.50 per MB for handsets, to £2.55 per MB for both data cards and handsets. Pay Monthly customers will also see prices fall from £8 per MB to £3 per MB; and Pay as You Go customers will see prices fall from £8 per MB to £4 per MB.

Something to think about...
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Your not helping here;)
 
Park@82 said:
Not the case if you are on Vodacom… “A new bundle may only be purchased once the existing one has expired or depleted.”
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Actually on Vodacom pre-paid, you can buy a new bundle when you are in the last 10MB, so it's ready to activate automatically.

On contract you can buy as many bundles as you like, upfront.
 
Last edited:
yup and on voda it carries the little extra u have left i noticed :) (granted its not much, but its cool)
 
Software to record data usage

Is anyone aware of software that will accurately measure and record data usage?
Then we will know when the bundle is about to be depleted/ expire without having to phone/ sms for the information.
 
Rural said:
Is anyone aware of software that will accurately measure and record data usage?
Then we will know when the bundle is about to be depleted/ expire without having to phone/ sms for the information.
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There are a number of utilities available (Dumeter, Netmeter, Netlimiter, et al.), have a look in the Vodacom sub-forum.

But these utilities all use Windows hooks to get their data and some of them will not pick up specific applications. The VMC dashboard also use these same hooks so can also be bypassed by programs, if they like.

Probably the best would be to run something like WireShark, but it might be a bit complex for most.
 
Park@82 said:
Why not get a prepaid simcard, stick it into your 3G modem and buy data bundles online. This way you can use every single MB, when your data bundle is finished the connection stops working so you can’t get ripped off:sick:
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That works well if you have a 3g modem and not using a phone for connecting since you can't receive calls on the contract number when you are using the prepaid number.
 
Rural said:
Is anyone aware of software that will accurately measure and record data usage?
Then we will know when the bundle is about to be depleted/ expire without having to phone/ sms for the information.
Click to expand...

The touch diamond comes with software for monitoring data usage that runs on the phone (Spb GPRS Monitor, it's on the CD). You tell it how much data you have for the month and you can set daily allowances and warnings to tell you when you have gone over this. It also has graphs that show you your hour, day and month usage and it calculates how much you will pay at the end of the month once you go over your bundle (if you set the out of bundle rate in the software).
 
spiderz said:
No, you can only load ONE bundle in a 30 day period. if it runs out, you go over to out of bundel rates. :mad:
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wrong. u cannot load another bundle on a bundle that is not yet finished. if the bundle is finished, however - even within 30 days - u can load another bundle. on vodacom, that is, dunno about anyone else...
 
ike said:
wrong. u cannot load another bundle on a bundle that is not yet finished. if the bundle is finished, however - even within 30 days - u can load another bundle. on vodacom, that is, dunno about anyone else...
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You can load another bundle when in the last 10MB of your current bundle as V3G mentioned [prepaid];).
 
vodacom3g said:
Actually on Vodacom pre-paid, you can buy a new bundle when you are in the last 10MB, so it's ready to activate automatically.
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Now why can't mtn do this. :(

But if mtn don't want my money I might have to go there.
 
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