Signing up for CellC R45/month 500MB deal with dongle... Rather not.

[Lope]

I almost signed up for a CellC R45/m (R55 if you incl debit order) 2 year contract. (R1,320 over 2 years)
But I've decided to think about it a bit.
Its 500MB/month
The unused data allowance carries over, but every 3 months all carried over data allowance is nullified.

I was wondering when the new part of the consumer protection act (regarding data bundles) will come into effect, and whether it will affect existing contracts or only new ones.
So I googled it and found this article.
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/business/20430-cpa-and-3-year-prepaid-data-rollover.html
It seems I was mislead previously and that data bundles do still expire. Well, thats LAME.

So here are the pros and cons of getting the contract:
Assuming my alternative is buying a dongle for R400 on gumtree and a voice SIM, then loading 15c/MB data bundles on it starting as low as R7.50/50MB.
Pros:
* Need a dongle. Get a brand new one with the contract.
* Effectively getting the 500MB per month at a cost of 8c/MB assuming the dongle is worth R400.
Cons:
* You can't control what dongle you get (it may not be compatible with linux etc)
* 3G Data costs might drop a lot more and 8c/MB might be expensive in 1.5 years time.
* CellC coverage might not be good enough and I might need to go with another network.
* Other networks may offer affordable (not necessarily as cheap) bundles with better coverage.

So all in all I'm thinking a contract is a crap idea.

 

[Lope]

Further clarification on the consumer protection act:
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/confusion-on-consumer-act-coverage-1.1085525#.UDysu-eYTIU

It sounds like vouchers are supposed to remain valid for 3 years.
Meaning you can buy a bunch of CellC vouchers and keep them in your laptop bag.
You can load MTN airtime over R25 onto your account.
And when you need data, you can redeem the cellc vouchers for data bundles and or use the MTN airtime to buy data bundles and then use the data up within the expiry period of 30 days for cellc and whatever for MTN.

Thats a workable situation.
Prepaid for the win?

 

[Mbuzi]

Prepaid for the win?

Wow! You only realize this now?

 

[Lope]

Mbuzi its because I'm not as clever as you.

 

[Lope]

Sorry to go off topic (if anyone else came to this thread to read about and discuss 3G, as I did before).
But I received a notification by email to come here and read a contribution to this thread and was quite looking forward to it...

Anyway, I am quite intrigued at this point.
From my perspective, when making a decision that affects the next 2 years of my life I have to think about all the options and information I have observed; I have to do google searches, read articles, present it all in a logical, concise format and ask questions so that I may learn from others who know things that I don't.
People who have a common interest, who would like to share information and discuss things.

So, Mbuzi, you have come along and read what I have said, and basically declared your intellectual superiority over me.
Now I have an open mind, and accept the possibility that you're far more intelligent than I am.
And if this is the case maybe you can explain to me (if you wish to be so kind) what your intention is with the post that you made?
Were you trying to communicate that I'm really stupid? OR that you're really clever?
Now going with option A... (I'm trying to figure this out)
If I'm really stupid, is there a purpose in telling me that? Will I or society be better off, with me, or others knowing that I'm stupid?
In that case, perhaps I should be wearing a t-shirt saying "I am stupid" so that it can be more clearly visible.
Or, okay, lets say option B...
You're really clever, like maybe a genius. Or somewhere in between. What would the purpose be of communicating that?
Maybe you feel you've got something to contribute? "If only more people knew how clever you are, things would be better somehow?" Maybe for you personally? Or maybe it would benefit other people? Maybe a TV show. "Mbuzi answers... he solves your problems in 30 seconds.".

I'm trying not to come across as sarcastic here, because my main interest is in opening up fresh dialogue. I am interested in human communication, and evolution. And as you can see I do experiments in human communication, not too worried about conforming with norms. I observe that people tend to behave unconsciously, on auto-pilot and so I've found it is necessary to go a bit outside the box, to see whats really in the box, if you get my drift.

And so my next question to you is... It would seem that you weren't very concerned about possibly hurting my feelings
(if I'm maybe a sensitive person) or offending me (if I'm the type of person to take offence) and so I'm wondering why you find it unnecessary to get along with people (or maybe only people less intelligent than yourself) when it is quite easy to ignore what you aren't interested in, and contribute to what you are.
Or perhaps you found it more important to achieve A or B (above) than have a good, or even plain interaction with somebody you've never met?

Or maybe I'm off the mark entirely, so maybe you can share something?

 

[Cyclone101]

I just want to say, Lobe, I like the way you think. Breaking everything down to all possible motives. I do it as well, sometimes to my own detriment.

I would suspect he responded out of an egotistical approach, stating his superiority. No other motive fits. He might claim he replied in jest, but no one would benefit, thus making that argument moot.

The fact that he didn't justify his comment makes me suspect his actual knowledge since yes/no do not support or contradict any argument.

Food for thought.

Jacques

 

[Cyclone101]

To reply on your original post,

The problem as I see it, is that you want to know whether you should lock yourself in a contract and save as things currently stand, or to go the more flexible route but pay more now hoping for better prices soon.

It is hard to predict future data prices and as such I would suggest going for the cheaper option now. I do not like fixed contracts but the saving now would most likely be the best option.

Regards
Jacques

 

[Synaesthesia]

Dongles are cheap. Don't lock yourself into a contract for one. Prepaid data is also a lot cheaper these days.

Heck why not buy one of these 3GB bundles with a dongle from Cell C, I see them for sale everywhere. You get 3GB prepaid data for free, which you can use over 12 months. Then when it runs out, buy more from Cell C, 8ta or whoever.

 

[Lope]

Yeah thanks for the food for thought guys,

I thought about it and my 3G needs are actually really unpredictable so the 500MB/month (with carryover and being completely wiped out every 3 months) at 8c/MB would work out many times more expensive than only paying 15c/MB for data I will actually use.

Doing a road trip soon, I'll just buy like 20 R7.50 vouchers (R150, 1000MB) which each take 3 years to expire. and just load them on as I need them! hehehe
Thank you consumer protection act! haha

 

[hellfire]

Sorry to go off topic (if anyone else came to this thread to read about and discuss 3G, as I did before).
But I received a notification by email to come here and read a contribution to this thread and was quite looking forward to it...

Anyway, I am quite intrigued at this point.
From my perspective, when making a decision that affects the next 2 years of my life I have to think about all the options and information I have observed; I have to do google searches, read articles, present it all in a logical, concise format and ask questions so that I may learn from others who know things that I don't.
People who have a common interest, who would like to share information and discuss things.

So, Mbuzi, you have come along and read what I have said, and basically declared your intellectual superiority over me.
Now I have an open mind, and accept the possibility that you're far more intelligent than I am.
And if this is the case maybe you can explain to me (if you wish to be so kind) what your intention is with the post that you made?
Were you trying to communicate that I'm really stupid? OR that you're really clever?
Now going with option A... (I'm trying to figure this out)
If I'm really stupid, is there a purpose in telling me that? Will I or society be better off, with me, or others knowing that I'm stupid?
In that case, perhaps I should be wearing a t-shirt saying "I am stupid" so that it can be more clearly visible.
Or, okay, lets say option B...
You're really clever, like maybe a genius. Or somewhere in between. What would the purpose be of communicating that?
Maybe you feel you've got something to contribute? "If only more people knew how clever you are, things would be better somehow?" Maybe for you personally? Or maybe it would benefit other people? Maybe a TV show. "Mbuzi answers... he solves your problems in 30 seconds.".

I'm trying not to come across as sarcastic here, because my main interest is in opening up fresh dialogue. I am interested in human communication, and evolution. And as you can see I do experiments in human communication, not too worried about conforming with norms. I observe that people tend to behave unconsciously, on auto-pilot and so I've found it is necessary to go a bit outside the box, to see whats really in the box, if you get my drift.

And so my next question to you is... It would seem that you weren't very concerned about possibly hurting my feelings
(if I'm maybe a sensitive person) or offending me (if I'm the type of person to take offence) and so I'm wondering why you find it unnecessary to get along with people (or maybe only people less intelligent than yourself) when it is quite easy to ignore what you aren't interested in, and contribute to what you are.
Or perhaps you found it more important to achieve A or B (above) than have a good, or even plain interaction with somebody you've never met?

Or maybe I'm off the mark entirely, so maybe you can share something?

Can't you stick to your own topic? At least Mbuzi can.