New iBurst Wireless Plus pricing revealed

[Trixanno]

I was also hoping that this after hours VAS would be in the R300 range. I think that would make it a VERY competitive product in the current market place.

As said before, I will stay on the 1gb (now 2gb) package and wait for the after hours anouncement. If this is not in my price range, I will phone Telkom.

 

[Madhawk]

I was also hoping that this after hours VAS would be in the R300 range. I think that would make it a VERY competitive product in the current market place.

It better be under R500 for everything. All inclusive.

 

[Land Locked]

Telskum have worse admin than i-burst.

 

[Trixanno]

Looking at the iburst website to see if I've been upgraded yet (which I'm not) I again saw the subscription fees...and I still have an unanswered question regarding it.

Why is the subscription fee different for the different packages? Surely access to the network should be the same, whether you use 1GB per month or 15GB.

And then, why not make all subscription fees the same and all top up prices the same. On the current model people are penalised for not using a lot of data. Wireless 15 works out to R63.67 per GB, but Wireless 1 works out to R99.

 

[Mental-Tree]

news

Telecommunications provider iBurst has introduced a range of sweeping changes across its original iBurst Wireless range of packages aimed at providing the South African Internet consumer with better value at lower prices.



The most significant adjustments come in the form of increased bandwidth for the same or lower monthly subscriptions, the monthly cost of packages will be split between subscription and data fees to make price comparisons with ADSL easier and cheaper top-up packages available per gigabyte will replace the out-of-bundle per megabyte model.



“iBurst Wireless subscribers will immediately experience the benefit of more bang for their buck as they will receive increased bandwidth for the same price. In addition, iBurst is making the out-of-bundle per gigabyte rate the same as the in-bundle rate across all the new packages.” said Jannie van Zyl, Group CEO of iBurst.

Mr Van Zyl added that many South African broadband consumers were so used to being hit with massive bills at the end of every month after their out-of-bundle rates kicked in that paying the same rate for both should come as a pleasant surprise.



The new pricing offers a per gigabyte price starting from R39 and will be available to new subscribers as from 1 December 2009. Current iBurst Wireless subscribers will be migrated during the month of December to one of the new packages which will see them paying the same or less for increased bandwidth.



“This is the most significant overhaul of iBurst Wireless possibly since our commercial launch. We have gained a significant amount of knowledge regarding what Internet consumers’ desire and I believe we have delivered on these demands with this revamp,” said Mr Van Zyl.



Some additional value added options have been included on higher end packages such as the Uncapped Anytime service which will allow users to continue surfing once their cap is reached at speeds of either 64kbps or 128kbps. The 64kbps service will cost R199 per month and will be available on packages of 5 gigabyte or higher , while the 128kbps service is R249 per month and is applicable to packages of 8 gigabytes and above.



iBurst Wireless hardware such as modems and routers will be offered separately and can be paid upfront or over a 24-month period.



Further product enhancements are set to be introduced early in 2010. Chief amongst these improvements will be an uncapped off-peak service for iBurst Wireless packages of 5GB or higher.



Other new value-added services that will be on offer include SMS data usage notification billed at 50 cents per SMS and free Dial-a-Nerd technical assistance for 24-month subscribers.



“Next year will prove to be a watershed year for South African telecoms in general and Internet in particular following the many regulatory and market changes that have occurred recently and are still set to take place. The restructuring of our Wireless packages and indeed of our company has put iBurst in an enviable position that is no doubt of considerable concern to our less nimble competitors,” concluded Mr Van Zyl.

Further product enhancements are set to be introduced early in 2010. Chief amongst these improvements will be an uncapped off-peak service for iBurst Wireless packages of 5GB or higher.

Well that's gay...

 

[PeterCH]

I was also hoping that this after hours VAS would be in the R300 range. I think that would make it a VERY competitive product in the current market place.

As said before, I will stay on the 1gb (now 2gb) package and wait for the after hours anouncement. If this is not in my price range, I will phone Telkom.

How can the after hours unthrottled VAS be R300 if they want R200 for 64k?
My bet, it will be an extra R1000 pm.

 

[PeterCH]

Looking at the iburst website to see if I've been upgraded yet (which I'm not) I again saw the subscription fees...and I still have an unanswered question regarding it.

Why is the subscription fee different for the different packages? Surely access to the network should be the same, whether you use 1GB per month or 15GB.

And then, why not make all subscription fees the same and all top up prices the same. On the current model people are penalised for not using a lot of data. Wireless 15 works out to R63.67 per GB, but Wireless 1 works out to R99.

What's more the booster price for Wireless 15 is R39/GB.

 

[Madhawk]

Chief amongst these improvements will be an uncapped off-peak service for iBurst Wireless packages of 5GB or higher.

Epic Fail!...

So screw the majority of users on the new 2GB package.

 

[PeterCH]

Epic Fail!...

So screw the majority of users on the new 2GB package.

I think so. Basically what was happening was that some people would get 1-2GB accounts, use those up in 1-2 days and spend the remaining 28-29 days downloading virtually non-stop at 64kbps. That could work out to about 20GB extra per month - not including the times when iBurst's throttle system broke and one could end up downloading at 1Mb/sec non-stop for days.

 

[Madhawk]

I understand from iBurst's point of view, but Jannie said it's a few customers that download 24/7.

So the majority of us, must now pay for other's sins.

R445/5GB + R349 VAS iBurst uncapped (Maybe) = R794

R131 Telkom + 384kbps ADSL R152 + R399 Screamer uncapped = R682

If iBurst forces you take the 5GB package for you to have uncapped, it's going to be an Epic Fail.

 

[PeterCH]

I understand from iBurst's point of view, but Jannie said it's a few customers that download 24/7.

So the majority of us, must now pay for other's sins.

R445/5GB + R349 VAS iBurst uncapped (Maybe) = R794

R131 Telkom + 384kbps ADSL R152 + R399 Screamer uncapped = R682

If iBurst forces you take the 5GB package for you to have uncapped, it's going to be an Epic Fail.

You're right. Also if Telscum dropped the line rental fees like the rest of the world, iBurst would be in deeper trouble.

 

[Vrotappel]

I understand from iBurst's point of view, but Jannie said it's a few customers that download 24/7.

So the majority of us, must now pay for other's sins.

Your statement is not true as iBurst don't pay for their bandwidth per gig. If a 'few' customers harm their network by abusing 64kbps they don't have much of a network.

 

[Qrox]

Your statement is not true as iBurst don't pay for their bandwidth per gig. If a 'few' customers harm their network by abusing 64kbps they don't have much of a network.

This really is the problem.. According to how long the internet has been available to the public by this time it should be more in line like R200-R300 for uncapped anytime. Not, "you need more cap? give me a finger" or "you want uncapped unthrottled anytime? give me a kidney a lung and half of your brain". Seriously! I admit that SA is "behind" with technology compared to most of the world but for petes sake! Isp's need to stop sucking out every last cent from customers. If the prices were lower they would get more customers which would mean that in the end they make more profits. All their doing now is driving away a bunch of their customers.

 

[diegoa]

For me I only care that I still got same bandwidth or even better while in my cap. If not I'm out of here. I dont want other people abusing the network and it effecting my bandwidth or effect performance of iBurst network.

 

[kaaskop]

Your statement is not true as iBurst don't pay for their bandwidth per gig. If a 'few' customers harm their network by abusing 64kbps they don't have much of a network.

Couldn't have said it better!

 

[dirty bastard]

Your statement is not true as iBurst don't pay for their bandwidth per gig. If a 'few' customers harm their network by abusing 64kbps they don't have much of a network.

 

[Trixanno]

For sure anyone can buy any product. Companies typically create product groupings to simplify processes, etc.

At the end of the day, it's about your requirements and budget. Let no company tell you you're "not allowed" to buy a product.

Your other questions are very logical, BTW.

From thread/post http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?p=3365278

Jannie, I don't want to be a douche about it, but if you were serious about your comment, then I would like to have the 128kbs VAS on the Wireless 2 package. Or maybe I'll wait for a while for the new VAS to be launched, and then I'd like to have the after hour uncapped option on the Wireless 2 package.

 

[SoG]

From thread/post http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?p=3365278

Jannie, I don't want to be a douche about it, but if you were serious about your comment, then I would like to have the 128kbs VAS on the Wireless 2 package. Or maybe I'll wait for a while for the new VAS to be launched, and then I'd like to have the after hour uncapped option on the Wireless 2 package.

@Trixanno

Sorry mate, but i would say you are pretty much being a douche.

I dont mean to defend Iburst, but if you follow your link to the thread and read the question he is responding too, you can clearly see that he is talking about package's, I.E. Home user Vs Business user package's and that any user should be able to get benefits of either.

This has nothing to do with the VAS, hence the name "Value added service" and not "Stand alone business package"

I also agree that its stupid they want you to have a 5gig package to apply for the VAS, but quoting something completely irrelevant and then ranting what you want because of it is just low and petty.