Something to smile about

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Deenem

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I'm travelling to the UK for a holiday and though I would investigate the pay-as-you-go GPRS options available over there. Here are some examples:

Virgin Mobile : 0.5p /Kb (~R59/Mb)
T-Mobile : 18p/20KB (~R106/Mb)
Vodafone : GBP2.35 / Mb (~R27/Mb)
Orange : GBP11.75/7Mb (~R19/Mb)

Most of these aren't pay-as-you-go but add-ons to existing contacts.

The grass is suddenly looking at lot greener on this side of the fence.
 
hmmmm...thanks.....a premium of TWO ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE! I think I will leave my card at home and book into hotels with free access.
 
GPRS is expensive (there) BUT the rest of the services like broadband are so cheap that not many people use GPRS.
more and more people are switching over to GPRS (here) which makes it worth the service providers time and effort to give cheap service.
 
Deenem said:
I'm travelling to the UK for a holiday and though I would investigate the pay-as-you-go GPRS options available over there. Here are some examples:

Virgin Mobile : 0.5p /Kb (~R59/Mb)
T-Mobile : 18p/20KB (~R106/Mb)
Vodafone : GBP2.35 / Mb (~R27/Mb)
Orange : GBP11.75/7Mb (~R19/Mb)

Most of these aren't pay-as-you-go but add-ons to existing contacts.

The grass is suddenly looking at lot greener on this side of the fence.
Click to expand...

I did a survey a few weeks ago and at that point in time Vodacom had the cheapest 3G rates in the world.

I've got it in PDF format, not to sure how I can upload it onto the forum?

Also, Vodacom was the first operator (might still be the only one) to charge video calls at normal voice rates.
 
vodacom3g said:
Vodacom had the cheapest 3G rates in the world.

Also, Vodacom was the first operator (might still be the only one) to charge video calls at normal voice rates.
Click to expand...

V3G, you are right and you are missing the point. There are a bunch of guys and gals who are traversing the world and have to stay in touch. They are influential and important and knowledgeable. Don't even try to rip them off. You have the high ground. Build on it. Give us some reasonable roaming rates.
 
Last edited:
WiFi hotspots are generally the preferable way to roam when overseas. Faster and often free!
 
No, not missing the point at all.

The roaming rate is not determined by Vodacom, but by the roaming network. If you're in the UK, for example, you'll attach to one of the local UK networks (Vodafone, Orange, O2, etc.) and will pay THEIR data rates.

The billing is reflected on your South African Vodacom account but that money is paid over to the roaming partner. It's not a Vodacom rate.

This also explains why your bundle is not used while you're roaming. Say you roam in the Netherlands where you'll pay around R100/Mb. Obviously your rate of 60c/Mb in SA can't be used to fund this as Vodacom would end up paying the R99.4/Mb delta!

So, beware when you travel. I recently saw a 2 week 3G roaming bill of R40K!

Use your data roaming to access mail, etc. but make sure you keep downloads to a minimum. Use a smartphone with GPRS, Blackberry or WEBmail when you roam.

One day, when the rest of the world catches up with South African mobile data rates, you'll be able to roam to your hart's content. :)
 
Last edited:
I stand corrected and apologise. Perhaps Vodacom should publicise these wonderful rates to overseas visitors landing at Johannesburg?
 
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