New 3G / HSDPA Tariffs

garp said:
It doesn't really matter how unnecessarily complicated or confusing they make their pricing, at R599 per 1GB and R1497 per 3GB it remains the most expensive data in the country (barring MTN - I haven't checked their bundle prices).
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Mobile data prices here do sort of match international trends lately I'm happy forking out my R599 a month for the convieniance, speed and service. For high data usage use ADSL, if you need mobile data use Voda they have the biggest footprint and R599 is competitive for 1 GB of mobile data in our market. Compare apples with apples, at 1GB Voda and iBurst are matched over that iBurst is cheaper but then if you realy need to be mobile iBurst doesnt have that big a footprint. You cant realy compare fixed line broadband to Wireless Broadband thats unfair.
 
Well, Sentech is mobile and you can get 20GB for approx R600 so why does Vodacom have to be so much more expensive??

Vodacom is by no means cheap compared to international pricing anymore. The trend in Asia is to have flat rate subscriptions for unlimited 3G from as little as R200pm.

1GB is not a lot of data anymore (at least not to a lot of ppl especially in the IT industry). R1500 for 3GB??? I don't think so.
 
3G4me said:
Call 082 155, they will create a log for the R299 to be credited to your account. So you don't lose... if you paid it because you took the line whilst that deal was active, they will refund it. That is my understanding.
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The saga continues.... (this is to do with migrating down from HSDPA to the 20% cheaper 3G-only rates for those thinking it may be off topic).

I called 082 155 and heard the message regarding that credit, but when I finally got an operator and asked what EXACTLY the messge meant, he didn't know.

Much to-and-froing later, Vodacom has come full circle and told me that:

1. I can swap my 4 week old HSDPA card for a refurbished 3G only -card at the dealer I took my contract out with.

2. The R300 charge is between me and the dealer - the refund is at their discretion.

V3G, could you perhaps explain EXACTLY what credit or refund is alluded to in the recorded message on your 082 155 line? If you can, you might want to inform your colleagues too as they haven't a clue....
 
I'm a little confused with what you can and can't do with the new HSDPA card.

looking at the coverage map I notice the coverage for GPRS to be bigger than EDGE coverage. So, if I'm swapping my existing 3G card for a HSDPA card, will I still be able to connect in remote places where there's only GPRS and no EDGE?

I'm travelling a lot to remote places, and need to be connected (even if only through GPRS), but would also like the higher speed while in the bigger cities through HSDPA. Will I shoot myself in the foot swapping to HSDPA?
 
cjm said:
I'm a little confused with what you can and can't do with the new HSDPA card.

looking at the coverage map I notice the coverage for GPRS to be bigger than EDGE coverage. So, if I'm swapping my existing 3G card for a HSDPA card, will I still be able to connect in remote places where there's only GPRS and no EDGE?

I'm travelling a lot to remote places, and need to be connected (even if only through GPRS), but would also like the higher speed while in the bigger cities through HSDPA. Will I shoot myself in the foot swapping to HSDPA?
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The HSDPA card does GPRS , EDGE, 3G and HSDPA, so yes u will be able to use GPRS
 
Vodacom are confusing/misleading?

Vodacom is starting to mess up with advertising etc - just as they advertised PPDB a long time ago and then pulled back, they making new mistakes - seems the releases ( printed matter ) are not prepared by informed persons and neither are they checked by informed persons before going into printing and distribution.

I received my bill with a " Dear Valued Customer " note signed by Shameel Joosub regarding the 3g/gprs rates reduction.
It also shows EDGE as a premium service like HSDPA and that the cost is the old higher rate.
Then it has a FAQ ( overleaf ) which shows all the different bundles and their rates. EDGE is again with HSDPA.
SOMEONE understands EDGE to be a newer than 3G technology because it came later on the Voda network?

THEN it has :
" WHAT is the main difference between 3G/GpRS and HSDPA/EdGE?"
The main diff is potential speed...blah blah.

Then has a graph
GPRS: widely avail MAX uplink: 56Kbps downlink 80Kbps Cost: Basic
3G: Urban/Limited 128 384 Basic
EDGE: Rural/Limited 128 384 Premium
HSDPA: Urban/Limited 128 1.8Mbps Premium

etc etc...

SINCE WHEN IS THE MAX Theoretical downlink on EDGE 384Kbps?????? and im not sure about the uplinks also....are they correct? this is misleading...and cost again shows EDGE as Premium....

Common Voda is a world class company.....Doesnt need to have stupids preparing stuff like this which is inaccurate

OR AM I THE DAFT ONE???maybe EDGE has 384Kbps? please correct me guys..
 
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I think the theoretical download speed on EDGE is greater than 400Kb/s!

Need to do the calculation. (slots x this x that...)

But practically, you should see in the high 200's.

You might remember some other networks stating that they don't need 3G and will roll out EDGE as it offers similar speeds. But then HSDPA came along....

The letter you received is the same one I published here: http://www.mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=44770

Don't tell me you only read it now!! ;)

As we've already discussed, the pricing actually works on the max. speed the device you use can achieve, so if you've got a HSDPA card and it falls back to EDGE, you still pay the higher tariff. If you use a 3G phone with EDGE capabilities, you're on the lower tariff.

I've confirmed this with Shameel Joosub (Vodacom SA MD) on this and he agrees my interpretation is correct.

The speeds posted is wrong for HSDPA, max upload is (now) 384. When we first launched the network could only do 128 and this was the 'official' speed. Now it's 384.

But you're right, the letter can be confusing.
 
Didnt read the letter to be honest!

Theoratically HSDPA should be even higher! AFAIU u only advertise what is available ( device dependant )
U cant advertise HSDPA as 3.6Mbps for example, when the cards can only do 1.8Mbps.
available EDGE devices AFAIK only do +/- 247 so how do u advertise 384Kbps?
Yes it is confusing, especially to some poor chap sitting in a rural dorp who reads it - its not confusing but misleading....he wont ever see 384Kbps on the HSDPA CARD if in an EDGE only area as the EDGE supported is only 247Kbps...

anyway...thats that
 
Diplos said:
V3G, could you perhaps explain EXACTLY what credit or refund is alluded to in the recorded message on your 082 155 line? If you can, you might want to inform your colleagues too as they haven't a clue....
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Hmmm.... I guess the answer is 'blowing in the wind'.... Let's widen the net: does ANYONE employed by Vodacom know about this 'credit'?
 
EDGE Speed

Hi Guys,

The theoretical maximum speed of EDGE on one channel is 59.2 kb/s.

A device like that supports 4 downlink channels can therefore support speeds of up to 236.8kb/s (59.2kb/s x 4).

A device that can support 8 downlink channels will therefore be able to support speeds of up to 473.6 kb/s.

Cheers,
WireFree
 
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WireFree said:
Hi Guys,

The theoretical maximum speed of EDGE on one channel is 59.2 kb/s.

A device like the SAMBA 75, which supports 4 downlink channels can therefore support speeds of up to 236.8kb/s (59.2kb/s x 4).

A device that can support 8 downlink channels will therefore be able to support speeds of up to 473.6 kb/s.

Cheers,
WireFree
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What does Vodacoms HSDPA/EDGE cards support?
Only 4 channels - i guarantee that... so they cant advertise 384Kbps for EDGE..
 
Mams said:
What does Vodacoms HSDPA/EDGE cards support?
Only 4 channels - i guarantee that... so they cant advertise 384Kbps for EDGE..
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I absolutely agree, Mams. You should advertise something if at least some users are able to get it. AFAIK all Vodacom towers are set at a maximum of 4 timeslots for downloading, and there are no devices, at least in SA, that I know of that can support more than 4 timeslots.
 
WireFree said:
Hi Guys,

The theoretical maximum speed of EDGE on one channel is 59.2 kb/s.

A device like that supports 4 downlink channels can therefore support speeds of up to 236.8kb/s (59.2kb/s x 4).

A device that can support 8 downlink channels will therefore be able to support speeds of up to 473.6 kb/s.

Cheers,
WireFree
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Thanks!

Can you do the forum a huge favour and do a complete post on how many channels you get on what type of device, max speed per channel per coding scheme, etc.

I'll need to read up to do this, but you seem to be on the ball!

I can then stick it in the FAQ.
 
Mams said:
Then has a graph
GPRS: widely avail MAX uplink: 56Kbps downlink 80Kbps Cost: Basic
3G: Urban/Limited 128 384 Basic
EDGE: Rural/Limited 128 384 Premium
HSDPA: Urban/Limited 128 1.8Mbps Premium
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Still something that needs to be cleared up here. v3g, you said the uplink speed of 3G is 64kbps, but this says it's 128kbps. So which one is it? Frankly it doesn't make sense to me that Vodacom would up the speed on HSDPA and not on 3G as well.
 
ic said:
The 64kbits/s upload speed is a hardware limitation imposed by the manufacturers of the old 3G&GPRS data cards and has nothing to do with Vodacom's network, I don't know what the potential upload speeds are on the various 3G phones, e.g. the 6680, v3g?
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Ok, thanks. So I guess I'll have to check myself.
 
vodacom3g said:
Thanks!

Can you do the forum a huge favour and do a complete post on how many channels you get on what type of device, max speed per channel per coding scheme, etc.

I'll need to read up to do this, but you seem to be on the ball!

I can then stick it in the FAQ.
Click to expand...

Since you asked :D
1. SAMBA 75 EDGE USB modem
GPRS multislot class 12
- 4 downlink channels (85.6kb/s)
- 4 uplink channels (85.6kb/s)
- multi-slot class 12, coding schemes CS-1 to CS-4, GPRS class B
EDGE multislot class 10
- 4 downlink channels (236.8kb/s)
- 2 uplink channels (118.4kb/s)
- multi-slot class 10, coding schemes MCS-1 ... MCS-9

2. Option HSDPA data card
EDGE multislot class 10
- 4 downlink channels (236.8kb/s)
- 2 uplink channels (118.4kb/s)

3. Huawei E620 data card
EDGE
- 4 downlink channels (236.8kb/s)

There is not much info available on the Sierra Wireless and Novatel websites on the capabilities of their data cards.

Cheers,
WireFree
 
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What Voda didn't tell: the new cards are 'locked'!

What Voda appears not to have mentioned in announcing the swap-out and lower data tariffs is that the new Huawei HSDPA cards appear to be 'locked' to the Vodacom network! I discovered this by trial and error when my local Voda mast went down and I tried to use my backup MTN card -- which worked on the older card and software. I have since tried everything with the help of this forum, but it now seems obvious Voda have defied the ICASA ruling prohibiting locking equipment to a network -- unless anyone from Voda can deny this categorically AND tell us how to use rival SIM cards in their new data cards?
Afterthought 1: if I swap back to a 3G card (which used to be able to handle rival SIM cards) will the announced refurbishing also have locked these?
Afterthought 2: What happens when travelling overseas. Is the new card also locked only to Voda or partner networks? Recently in the UK I used my Voda 3G card with the Orange network which had the cheapest data for my use; has this also now been suppressed?
 
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