New iBurst Wireless Plus pricing revealed

jem said:
Actually, TBH, iBurst has come to the party - at least partially...

- they have decreased their addon per Gb rates, which people wanted
- they have allowed 128kbit uncapped (still shaped tho i guess), which people wanted

Which were the things people wanted, however they've basically seperated the two type of users (uncapped vs. happily limited high speed cap) users - at the cost of alienating the ones who wanted a combination of the two.

I cap out before the 10th of a month on 3gb/m then spend the rest (unless there's something speed critical) at 64kbit, an extra 8kb/s would be useful. 256Kbit would'a been nicer but we'll see what the other TBA offerings hold.

it's not quite a step in the right direction, but it's definitely a shuffle in the right direction. For the same cost as currently I'd lose 2Gb unlimited speed, but gain an extra 64kbit.

Jannie/Shaun, any chance of at least a hint about the higher unlimited all days TBA? I don't want to migrate, then migrate, then migrate while products are unrolled...
Click to expand...

As i understand the packages u can't have the unthrottled 128kbps as a "package on its own" it must be an addon to a 2Gig package for instance.

If the unthrottled 128kbps is on its own ill take it but it doesn't seem that way.
 
Nope spoke to Mnr Green ..

The 64 & 128Kb packages are VALUE ADD. ie they cannot be used on their own, but are addons that need to be added to an existing service
 
as i'm understanding it the cheapest 128 uncap would be
0.5 GB package
connection R 50 + R 99 for the 0.5Gb(??) = R 149
+ 128Kbit @ 249
= R398
 
3 GB R 449
5 GB R 150 R 59 R 295 R 445

let just explain....
i paid 449 for 3 gig cap
now i shall pay 445 for 5 gig and when i want to top up its only 59 rand... its rly not that bad
 
On the whole: Not too shabby :-)

The main advantage of the old style packages was the 64k after cap - one knew the max budget for the month. If one ran out of cap, one could still go on at slow speed without breaking the budget. The new style packages breaks this iBurst tradition.

But, the per Gig cost dropped tremendously.

There is much better transparency (or so ite seems) on the rate composition.

If only one could have had the uncapped options as base packages as well!
 
Why does the subscription fee increase as the bundle size increases?

The effective per Gig cost does not decrease much with increasing bundle size...

Eg, the effective per GB cost for the new 2GB package is R99 per GB, and for the max 15GB package, it is R64/GB (although the OOB rate suggests a much larger drop)

I don't see that the overhead cost for a larger usage package is higher than for a lower usage package...actually, one would suspect that higher usage customers would require less support if the network and systems were running 100%.
 
For my purposes this is a vast improvement over the old pricing model. Never used the 64k throttle. It was more of a stop gap when bandwidth ran out. But now, with the new top-up prices, I get more to start with, and can easily buy more gigs without having to take out a second mortgage.

More happiness for me, more revenue for iBurst.
 
Qouted my responses from the main article post.
Yep number shuffle thats all it is.
I used to just download what i needed (well as far as i got on my cap) and then just use the throttled 64k for basic needs.
Changing over to the new package i have to micro manage my download sizes with a dashboard that doesnt work 99% of the time otherwise i end up without internet.
I think ill just stay on my current package as it would work out more expensive to go for the new 5GB + 64k uncapped than what i am currently paying.


Current package 5GB + 64k uncapped

Old price ( R 599 )
New price ( R 592 + R199 )

EPIC FAILURE !!!
Click to expand...
Quote:
iBurst – which has around 80,000 broadband subscribers – announced today that it is increasing its data bundle sizes and significantly reducing its out-of-bundle and booster rates. Data bundles increase by between 50 to 100% while Top-Ups will drop by as much as 96%.

Looks like iburst actaully just became more expensive .
YOUR NUMBER SHUFFLE FAILS TO ACHIEVE ANYTHING.
All you did was make out of bundle cheaper at the cost of taking away the 64k throttled.
The whole reason iburst was appealing was the never get hard capped option.
Now you want to make that a payable feature , when that has always been part of iburst?

So in short this fails to impress me.
This helps me in no way at all. On the contrary i would be paying more than i am now for exactly the same product.

jannievanzyl said:
You can certainly stay on your current package if it works better for you.

In your example above you actually get 3GB more data for a few bucks less.
Click to expand...
Jannie i understand what you are saying but the truth is that i can do more than 3GB on the 64k if i wanted to , it would just take a bit longer.
This is just encouraging me to race through my cap asap and then just let the pc download 24/7 from the 3rd of the month right through till the end of the month at throttled .
Why is it encouraging me to do that you may ask ... well because I would be getting value for money than the new packages and i dont have to worry about micro managing my internet usage and that ill get disconnected completely.

so quick math (correct me if im wrong )

27 days
24 hours in a day
60 minutes in an hour
60 seconds in a minute
@ 6kb

27 x 24 x 60 x 60 x 6 = 13996800 kb
13996800 / 1024 = 13668.75 MB
13668.75 /1024 = 13.348 Gb theoretically possible on 64k downloading 24/7 over 27 days .

Stay on old package (theorectically)
13.348 GB + 5GB
New package
3 GB + 5GB

Which one looks more worth it ?


Someone correct me if im wrong please ?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
jannievanzyl said:
We will soon add a flat-rate unthrottled, uncapped after hour service which might work even better for these guys.
Click to expand...
That might get me excited ... ETA on this ?
Will it be a stand alone product or bolt on product.
Maybe both with the bolt on obviously being a bit cheaper than the stand alone ?
Click to expand...



Jannie`s response to this :

Soon, need to finish of some back-end development.
Click to expand...
It will be a nice VAS for those who do bulk file transfers in the background.
Click to expand...
 
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A little clarification for the confused.

Old Pkg. Giga - 1 GB
Old pricing - R 199

New Pkg. - 2 GB
Subscription - R 60
Top Up Per GB - R 69
Data - R 138
Total - R 198


For a 2 gig package you will pay R 198-00 which is split between the subscription charge of R 60-00 and 2 gigs worth of data at R 138-00 (R 69-00 per gig). Should you require more than 2 gig of data you can purchase an extra gig at R 69-00.

Should you not wish to purchase extra bandwidth you can apply for the value added service of 64 kbps at R 199-00 or 128kbps at R 249-00 per month after your cap is reached.

Therefore - a 2 gig package with 64kbps after cap will be charged at R 198-00 plus R 199-00 for the 64kbps. Totals R 397-00.

Should you not use the 64kbps VAS then a top up price of R 69-00 per gig will be applicable.

If either is not chosen then you are hard capped and cannot use the Internet.

Rough example.

The 64kbps is for the 5GB package and up and the 128kbps is for the 8GB and up.

Product rapped me on the knuckles for that one....:P
 
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Eish. That was what i was fearing....


I'm better off on my old giga for R239 per month (1gig cap, with uncapped 64K throttled speed)
 
Shaun,

Will unused package and top-up bandwidth still carry over into the next month, as at present?
 
I have to agree that iBurst have made a step in the right direction....there is a but however.

If you do not use the 64kb throttled service, then this is awesome, you get an extra gig for R198 and you now can buy extra data at R69/gig. BUT, if you like using the 64kb throttled service, you are going to pay more for the same service. You will now pay R397...that is a 99% increase for the same thing (barring the 1gb extra).

I for one will stay on my current 1gig package and wait for the other VAS's to be launched.

Quick question. Correct me if I'm wrong, but AFAIK, currently p2p is shaped to +-64kb/s (before or after cap), if you take the 128kb/s VAS, will p2p then be shaped to 128kb/s, or will you still only get +-8-10kB/s?

...uhmm, one more question. If you take the 128kb/s VAS and do the whole dual WAN router thing, will you then get 256kb/s uncapped? Will the 40gb "reasonable/legal" usage then be changed to 80gb?

I know I might be pulling it completely out of proportion now, but I'd like to settle this in my own mind.

Holding my breath in anticipation of the upcoming VAS services ;)

EDIT: another question ;), why is it that the the subscription costs are different on the different packages, surely access to the network will be the same, whether you use 1gb or 100gb? Or is it a question that the higher packages are subsidising the lower packages?
 
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If you take the 128kb/s VAS and do the whole dual WAN router thing, will you then get 256kb/s uncapped? Will the 40gb "reasonable/legal" usage then be changed to 80gb?

i would also like to know this!
 
Trixanno said:
Will the 40gb "reasonable/legal" usage then be changed to 80gb?
Click to expand...

I thought that the "reasonable" usage thing was a random number anything from 30gb to 50gb. No techie on their helpdesk could ever give a definite number. I would also like to know what the Iburst definition of uncapped is with these new packages ?
 
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I'll consider the 128 kb/s but also need clarity on reasonable usage. Personally though I think that this is not good enough to keep me with iBurst.

When will this packages be available? Maybe if one can try it during December and if it's not worth it move over to ADSL in January.
 
If you take the 128kb/s VAS and do the whole dual WAN router thing, will you then get 256kb/s uncapped?
 
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