More than a connection

[Ghost02]

Don't forget the Royalties Vodacom/MTN/Cell C/Sentech/iBurst has to pay for the use of GSM technology.

I don't think the royalties cost that much that should charge R250 for 500mb. . . R500 a GIG. . do I smell a ripoff?

 

[pkid]

Are you buying your HSDPA service directly from Neotel?
No, you're not so how on earth can you blame Neotel for Vodacom's tarrifs?

Vodacom can buy bandwidth from Telkom for less than the consumer price of R65 per GiB yet they charge R1,989.00 for 10 GiB (R198.90/GiB).
That means Vodacom are marking up the bandwidth price by over 200% on their cheapest prepaid offering.
Go complain to Vodacom - they're the culprits.

Umm. First of all I can't get Neotel service because they haven't been able to get me coverage. So even if I wanted to I can't use their service. If Neotel were the competition they were supposed to be and they actually made good on their promises Vodacom would have to drop their prices or I could at least move to a service that was as good or better supplied by Neotel. They were licenses to introduce competition into the market because supposedly that is supposed to cause prices to drop and service to improve because if customers aren't happy they will go somewhere else. Neotel were supposed to be that other place...

So Neotel can't offer me service, haven't forced their competitors to drop their prices (for consumers) by actually being as good as they say they are and will force me into a 24 month contract when even Vodacom will let me use prepaid data bundles and so I am left with my Vodacom connection. Neotel's fantastic offer is a fixed wireless solution with rubbish pings and speeds that vary widely. I have waited since 1997 for Telkom to get competition in the fixed line market. Is this what I waited for?

So it makes me bleak when Neotel make all these statements about bandwidth being cheap and plentiful when 99% of the population have not benefited from them at all.

So I do blame Neotel for my high bill because they aren't doing anything at the moment to help me. They aren't forcing Vodacom to drop their HSDPA prices nor are they able to provide me with a better service. Vodacom are not going to drop prices and I am not going to see any benefits until Neotel offer something decent at a reasonable price.

All their ads and press releases are just a kick in the nuts for somebody who has to use HSDPA or ADSL with low caps and slow speeds.

 

[Neotel]

We do get questions on various subjects regularly from journalists, and the level of interest has certainly risen since we started advertising. It's a little unfair to complain about the same information being published repeatedly - it's typically different publications, and often the first time a particular audience has heard something. Mybroadband.co.za users have the advantage of seeing almost every article that's written when it gets put on the web.

To answer the comments about international bandwidth and pricing - direct access to SAT-3/SAFE affects two things - our ability to offer packages with higher caps and no distinction between international and local bandwidth - these wouldn't be possible without current pricing; and the price of international wholesale bandwidth to ISPs etc. Unfortunately, not all providers pass on improved pricing, but certainly wholesale prices have dropped around 60% - 70% since we first launched, and there is more to come.

 

[MFour]

Ok I am having a bad day. Following NeoTel's response above, and after re-reading my response, I believe that I was over reacting yet again. Apollogies.

However, if wholesale prices have dropped by 60% to 70%, why have no ISPs passed the buck, not even one? I also wonder how it has influenced NeoTel's price structure, as I don't think (I could be wrong) your consumer products has had any price decrease recently?

 

[Shake&Bake]

We do get questions on various subjects regularly from journalists, and the level of interest has certainly risen since we started advertising. It's a little unfair to complain about the same information being published repeatedly - it's typically different publications, and often the first time a particular audience has heard something. Mybroadband.co.za users have the advantage of seeing almost every article that's written when it gets put on the web.

To answer the comments about international bandwidth and pricing - direct access to SAT-3/SAFE affects two things - our ability to offer packages with higher caps and no distinction between international and local bandwidth - these wouldn't be possible without current pricing; and the price of international wholesale bandwidth to ISPs etc. Unfortunately, not all providers pass on improved pricing, but certainly wholesale prices have dropped around 60% - 70% since we first launched, and there is more to come.

• On the Journo issue:

They should catch a wake up and realize that they should have been printing such material at the time it was available and newsworthy.
Because they are picking up on the SNO only now, due to advertising = FAIL.
I would hope that my preferred publication was on par with news and actuality....

• On the wholesale pricing:

The 60%-70% that you make mention of, is that purely Neotel's pricing or are you saying that the price drop is across the board on bandwidth supplied from the cable?

• On ISP pricing:

1. Is this just a general statement that you are making about ISP's currently being supplied by Telkom whom are not passing on savings?
2. Or are you saying that Neotel is supplying ISP's with bandwidth and in turn these ISP's are not passing on savings?
3. If not, with regards to Q2: Why has Neotel not resold bandwidth to ISP's, so that we can at least support the SNO via ADSL, while we wait on coverage in our areas?

 

[Shake&Bake]

*bump*

 

[Shake&Bake]

So does Neotel only respond to defend itself when being judged?
What about simple answers, to simple questions?

 

[Tns]

so far i only heard about neotel i have not seen them yet.