so when is this all taking place

[Snowolf]

I have been waiting with baited breath for over 2 months now and have gone for vodacoms solution, it just seems as though MTN do not know whats going on with their own buisness plan.
not one MTN service provider can tell me when they plan to come to the game and match vodacoms GPRS/3G rates.
98 c for 20 k is daylight robery

 

[rpm]

Hi Snowolf

I have just had an unofficial discussion with one of the MTN managers regarding new products and he informed me that it will all happen within a matter of weeks. They are confident that they will be very competitive (and will certainly drop the idea of R 10-00 per meg) and that they will give customers a few good reasons to consider MTN as an alternative to Vodacom 3G. Unfortunately I could not get hold of MTN’s marketing Manager for an official response, but then again we are not really interested in those politically correct, information devoid statements here on MyADSL anyway

I hope this helps.

Regards,

RPM

 

[Gaz{M}]

I'm guessing R598.99 for 3GB. Any other opinions?

 

[ajax]

They will have to come up with a far better price. Their 3G rollout is not nearly as far as Vodacom's is as they have focussed first on EDGE. Now if they offer slower speed, the price must be significantly lower.

Then there's also the issue of customer service. I personally like the idea that if I've got any GPRS/3G related problem, vodacom3g is just a click away on this forum.

 

[rpm]

They will have to come up with a far better price. Their 3G rollout is not nearly as far as Vodacom's is as they have focussed first on EDGE. Now if they offer slower speed, the price must be significantly lower.

Then there's also the issue of customer service. I personally like the idea that if I've got any GPRS/3G related problem, vodacom3g is just a click away on this forum.

Hi Alax

Agreed! Vodacom3G has developed a very good reputation in a short period of time, and their product is now well known and trusted. Their presence on this forum obviously had a very positive impact on the user support & satisfaction, and I can’t see why anybody will move to MTN before they have proved themselves. I also assume that MTN will launch in areas where Vodacom is already established which further complicates matters for them. The longer they stall, the worse it gets!

Regards,

RPM

 

[kvi]

i was told "a few weeks" a few weeks ago.... good luck mtn, ive already jumped ship coz no one could give me any info...

 

[jpretorius]

I have been with MTN since the beginning. Before jumping ship and signing up with Voda3G, I thought I would at least alert them to the major PR flak they are getting on this forum.

I clicked on the "contact us" button on their website and proceeded to write a polite little suggestion that they have a look. The response I got was "you have entered an incorrect cellphone number" and a blank screen.

Go figure. This is how they treat their friends nog.

 

[kvi]

i also wrote them.... had a poor orc phone me the next day to say, please dont go, our service will be much better, but they had no clue what was going to be offered or more importantly WHEN. that was 2 months ago. i had been with mtn for 10 years

 

[Snowolf]

lost customers

agreed, we phoned MTN a few weeks ago and also got the same answer,,, in a few weeks time.
sometimes price is just not an issue, service is vital too and with vodacom3g in the forums i feel more settled to use vodacom than MTN.
since i started using GPRS a few weeks ago i have won over almost half a dozen people to use GPRS instead of telkomonopoly. some have already discontinued their telkom phones and ISP because they are paying for a service they hardly use (banking and email)
MTN has lost out so far. all they needed to do was put their buisness plan out in the forum and i'm sure people would have waited.
my MTN sim is stored somewhere in my drawer waiting in anticipation for MTN to play the game.

 

[diabolus]

I'm guessing R598.99 for 3GB. Any other opinions?

I assume you meant for 1GB ,as that is Vodacom's current cost. But yes, i would also guess MTN will be 'competitive' buy beating Vodacom's offer with R1 [and make up for it on some other hidden charge like having to pay R1 more to get a status report].

There's also the little factor of Vodacom probably 'expecting' MTN to come in with the same prices as them....So in the end MTN might get yet another surprise when Vodacom drops their rates even more [i'm sure they can afford to do that on GPRS at the very least, no reason why it should cost the same as 3G ] Somthing tells me MTN is not ready at all to actually come in and 'compete', the best they can do is 'catch-up' or 'semi-equal' the costs of Vodacom.

 

[ScrnScrm]

I dont think it really matters what price level MTN come in at - it will (Like Voda 3G) be more expensive than the likes of iBurst and ADSL meg for meg.
what is important however is where the technology is going. To clear up some things :
a. MTN could have launched 3G the same time as Voda, but decided to wait for the ratification of HSDPA standards. Basically, HSDPA is a 3.5G tech that allows for speeds of up to 14Mbits/s. I see their point - its pointless investing in 3G base stations if they are going to have to go back and upgrade them when HSDPA takes off. This is effectively what Voda are now going to have to do. And who pays for this? You and me. Need I remind this forum that telkom owns Vodacom
b. All the 3G base stations that MTN will be installing will be HSDPA ready.
c. at 14Mbits/s, it will blow all other broadband technologies away.
d. Launch dates for 3g on MTN - June. HSDPA tentative for Nov.

Where MTN have screwed up is on communication. I only have access to this info because I did some beta testing for them... Otherwise, its virtually impossible to get from them what their strategy is!

 

[Snowolf]

telkom

I agree, voda GPRS byte for cost is much higher than ASDL and the likes but asdl and the likes will only be installed in 2007 if i'm lucky.
then on top of all that is the flexability of cellular connection. I can carry my connection to work and back, hace 24 hour conectivity and it took me only 3 days to get every thing sorted out (contract, gprs mymeg package.....) telkom took 2 months to install a miserable ISDN line and 3 months to take it out again. one week to repair a NT which packed up 2 weeks later and was stuck without the simplest of pstn services.
now i am willing to pay for what i have. i don't need to chat to incompetant help desk people to assist with problems. is push comes to shove i can set up my cell with WASP *111#.....
count the costs.

 

[Pata]

I phoned the advanced helpdesk on the 24 of March. They said anytime from the end of March to the middle of April. I dont like the idea that they are waiting so long. However I wont jump overboard and move to voda, cause where I live, Telkom cant supply decent phone lines and Voda doesn`t have coverage. MTN is my only choice. Im hoping that we wil hear the good news soon

 

[MaD]

If they can better other prices on the market they have a winner.. knock-on effect - other prices go down.. domino effect..