Pre-paid Data Bundles [PPDBs] How To

vodacom3g said:
Logically HSDPA costs more to provide, but it created so much confusion in some people who could not comprehend it (;)), that we canned the idea. Pity, because some users are now probably not as well off as they could have been.
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MTN seems to think differently in a statement a year ago where it was said that faster technologies make provisioning cheaper. Oh well, I guess networks are different. ;)
 
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ic said:
Maybe I'm just callous and don't have any sympathy for people eternally clinging to GPRS and insisting that Vodacom should provide EDGE coverage in their area - especially when 3G coverage might already exist in their area.

My feeling is that Vodacom needs to get more customers to move over to using its 3G network instead of using the 2.xG network forever, and having the same price for 2G and 3G means that 2G customers will find it more beneficial to switch over to 3G considering the speed differential.

Strength in numbers for both 3G customers as well as Vodacom seeing growth in its 3G subscriber base, i.e. economies of scale.
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True, and it's happening. We already have a very small 3G-only base left.
 
ic said:
:confused: 3G subscriber-base or 2G subscriber-base?
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I think he is differentiating between 3G and HSDPA clients

The 3G clients decided to cling to their 3G cards due to the previous price differentiation between 3G and HSDPA.

I had two data cards running on VM as VC did not have PPDB.

Dit is soos om 'n Ferrari op 'n sinkplaat pad te ry.
 
damnit it's still down. haven't been able to load a ppdb for two days now. anyone else? i've tried all the methods. "network error" or soemthing
 
vodacom3g said:
I've got the product manager's head in a vice as we speak.........
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Seriously, though - any progress on smaller bundles? I'll get a 500mb or 1Gb bundle for my laptop, but I like to be able to use the net on my phone while I'm out and about... probably only use 50Mb a month or so, but I don't want to have to pay R2/Mb for it (and it's not like VC will be making much money out of me on that, anyway ;))
 
ic said:
Well firstly this thread has the title "Pre-paid Data Bundles How To", my intention was to establish whether a [searchforum]PPDB[/searchforum] was being used by 207070652, or whether it was a question related to speed issues using the [searchforum]OOBR[/searchforum].:confused:
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Ok, but I still don't think a bundle should make any difference in speed so it should rather be posted in a different speed related thread.
 
Prometheus said:
MTN seems to think differently in a statement a year ago where it was said that faster technologies make provisioning cheaper. Oh well, I guess networks are different. ;)
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Do they get cheaper rates from Telkom for HSDPA users? :confused:

To ensure a user can burst up to 1.8Mb/s Telkom is charging less than ensuring a burst capability of 80Kb/s? Wow.

Or to put it another way, for every 10 GPRS users, you need 600Kb/s backhaul capacity, while for every 10 HSDPA users you need around 15Mb/s, around 25 times more capacity.

You're saying MTN pays LESS for the higher speed line? :eek:
 
kaeiou said:
damnit it's still down. haven't been able to load a ppdb for two days now. anyone else? i've tried all the methods. "network error" or soemthing
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Won't you PM me the number and a short description of what you see?

I suspect it's number-specific. I've got two pre-paid phones and one is working fine while the other is not....:(
 
vodacom3g said:
Do they get cheaper rates from Telkom for HSDPA users? :confused:

To ensure a user can burst up to 1.8Mb/s Telkom is charging less than ensuring a burst capability of 80Kb/s? Wow.

Or to put it another way, for every 10 GPRS users, you need 600Kb/s backhaul capacity, while for every 10 HSDPA users you need around 15Mb/s, around 25 times more capacity.

You're saying MTN pays LESS for the higher speed line? :eek:
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Just a quick recap of the discussion, which we had before I believe. Simply equating 10 GPRS users to 10 HSDPA users does not quite cut it as they won't all be using the connection at the same time. Since gprs is so slow most people will be using the connection near continuousl so say 8 of them will be on at the same time - 440kbps. Now with the same users on hsdpa most data will only take a few moments so say 2 of them will use it at the same time - 3Mbps. Now these two numbers start to get nearer to each other with more users but for the same data the cost of delivery dwindles from using hsdpa over 3G by more than half which you always seem to leave out of the equation.

I am currently sharing a 512kbps link with other gprs/edge/3G/hsdpa users and get near the max speed a lot of the time. Like I said before Vodacom can easily clear up the "confusion" by releasing the real numbers. ;)
JimM said:
Just in case you were wondering (like I was) PPDB seem to run out at midnight of the day you are told is the last day of the bundle.

Now just what can I download for 77MB? :) :)
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I think MTN runs out at the minute you bought it if I'm not mistaken as I couldn't buy a new one before that time.
 
Slightly off subject or rather to get back to the title...

Why is it that you cannot add another bundle before the existing bundle runs out? Once your current bundle runs out how are you meant to add a new bundle if you dont have a mobile phone, but rather just using the USB modem?

Plse excuse me if this has been addresed as I have been travelling and not followed the forums as closely as I would have like to.
 
morebroadband said:
Slightly off subject or rather to get back to the title...

Why is it that you cannot add another bundle before the existing bundle runs out? Once your current bundle runs out how are you meant to add a new bundle if you dont have a mobile phone, but rather just using the USB modem?

Plse excuse me if this has been addresed as I have been travelling and not followed the forums as closely as I would have like to.
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I think you can buy it through sms as well. Failing that you can also log in to v4me, yes it's two bucks per meg but you won't use nearly as much. If you can't use a phone then how do you recharge using a voucher anyway.
 
Thanks, I have already bought the prepaid time, but I cannot add the bundle, untill I have depleted the current one. I know I have approx 150mb left, but thought I would just add another bundle now, saving me the hassles of having the service disrupted.
 
Yeah, it's kinda silly you can't add at least one extra bundle. You will always go over your limit.
 
Prometheus said:
I think you can buy it through sms as well. Failing that you can also log in to v4me, yes it's two bucks per meg but you won't use nearly as much. If you can't use a phone then how do you recharge using a voucher anyway.
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Prepaid and Top Up customers will be able to purchase their data bundles via one of the following mechanisms:
Logging onto www.vodacom4me.co.za
Via the “MyPhone USSD” menu – dial *111# (free from your Vodacom cellphone), then select option “2 - Bundle purchases”, then select “2 – Data bundle” and follow the prompts.
Via SMS – send an SMS containing the data bundle description to the short code “100” (free from a Vodacom cellphone) e.g. “MY MEG One” to short code 100 to purchase a 1 Gig data bundle.
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Not sure what the sms wording for the 500MB bundle is though:confused:
 
JimM said:
Just in case you were wondering (like I was) PPDB seem to run out at midnight of the day you are told is the last day of the bundle.

Now just what can I download for 77MB? :) :)
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Odd I still have 50MB left that expires yesterday and I'm still using it! Perhaps they have added some grace for network downtime?? :confused:
 
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