utterly disgusting data prices

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FapCop

FapCop

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This post is purely a rant. Mods can delete if they want (hope you don't).

I can't understand how mobile bandwidth can still be so damn expensive. I've been on mtn since I had my sagem my-x5 back in 2004 when GPRS only first came out. on my prepaid sim card, I remember paying R2 a MB. Back then wap sites were small and MB by MB, you could stretch your money kinda far. It's now almost a decade later, web pages became MUCH larger in size to load, but with 3G and HSDPA, we can manage. But the prices are still ridiculous. The average page to load now is in excess of a MB, making it cost almost R5 just to read a fracking article on cracked.com! Bandwidth on ADSL has dropped a royal ****** **** **** load, but on mobile it's still the same. Look at how much you pay on ADSL for 1GB on an EXPENSIVE ISP. R50? now dial *141*6# on your mtn mobile and see what that R50 would get you. A whole big wopping 75MB. Glorious, innit?

MTN and other networks need to realise that not every south African can afford to be tied down to uncapped contracts and what not. What we pay for data in this country makes me sick.

End of rant
 
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Yep, vote with your wallet. Check out the new 8ta 60+60 deal. All data up front and expires in 12 months time. :)

On the Mobile phone front the RedBull R249 deal is superb. 200 mins, 200 MMS/SMSs, and 500MB of data per month.
Mins carry over for 3 months (I stand corrected)
... and you also get a very good LG Phone.

Good Luck! :)
 
The only thing standing between you and cheaper mobile broadband data is simple: Towers

Believe it or not, the tower only has "X" amount of bandwidth to handle calls/data without going over capacity. When a tower does start to reach capacity, plans are drawn up to install a new tower to help alleviate traffic.

The cost of which is quite high (and one of the big reasons why MTN/Vodacom/Cell-C etc has a "combined tower" effort where all of them use 1 tower for their clients calls/data)

This is excluding the backhaul required from the tower to the exchange which could cost quite a bit more if they have to rely on Telkom... and this is one of the reasons why the big guns have started investing in their own fiber infrastructure for backhaul, which, in the long-run, will make it faster/cheaper.

Considering ALL those costs, compared with a physical copper line going from your house to the exchange (and whatever backhaul they already have at the exchange going to the ISP's etc), hard-lines like ADSL is way cheaper and thus can offer bandwidth and uncapped pricing without real throttling/capping of speed (depending on which ISP you're used to)

By keeping per meg pricing high enough to deter users .... to use it all the time for downloads or stuff like youtube as they have a capacity problem on the tower which would be a significant cost to them to install new towers to handle the load...and trust me, a light user with uncapped ability WILL become a heavy user sooner or later... take my dad and sister for example, the amount of youtube videos they watch is insane, bye bye "cap")

The lower the pricing the more users would use it the less capacity the tower will have the more it will cost them in infrastructure to keep you happy... because I foresee another rant in the future from you bitching about the speeds... so you can either have cheaper mobile internet, or you can have speed.

Last point. It's always a good idea to shop around for prepaid data bundles as they've proven to be a lot cheaper than your out of bundle rates. I agree, it's "ridiculous", but if you understand the cost involved, you'll start to understand why it's what it is
 
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AcidRaZor said:
The only thing standing between you and cheaper mobile broadband data is simple: Towers

Believe it or not, the tower only has "X" amount of bandwidth to handle calls/data without going over capacity. When a tower does start to reach capacity, plans are drawn up to install a new tower to help alleviate traffic.

The cost of which is quite high (and one of the big reasons why MTN/Vodacom/Cell-C etc has a "combined tower" effort where all of them use 1 tower for their clients calls/data)

This is excluding the backhaul required from the tower to the exchange which could cost quite a bit more if they have to rely on Telkom... and this is one of the reasons why the big guns have started investing in their own fiber infrastructure for backhaul, which, in the long-run, will make it faster/cheaper.

Considering ALL those costs, compared with a physical copper line going from your house to the exchange (and whatever backhaul they already have at the exchange going to the ISP's etc), hard-lines like ADSL is way cheaper and thus can offer bandwidth and uncapped pricing without real throttling/capping of speed (depending on which ISP you're used to)

By keeping per meg pricing high enough to deter users .... to use it all the time for downloads or stuff like youtube as they have a capacity problem on the tower which would be a significant cost to them to install new towers to handle the load...and trust me, a light user with uncapped ability WILL become a heavy user sooner or later... take my dad and sister for example, the amount of youtube videos they watch is insane, bye bye "cap")

The lower the pricing the more users would use it the less capacity the tower will have the more it will cost them in infrastructure to keep you happy... because I foresee another rant in the future from you bitching about the speeds... so you can either have cheaper mobile internet, or you can have speed.

Last point. It's always a good idea to shop around for prepaid data bundles as they've proven to be a lot cheaper than your out of bundle rates. I agree, it's "ridiculous", but if you understand the cost involved, you'll start to understand why it's what it is
Click to expand...

More users = more money.

And please dont tell me they dont have enough cash to do it, otherwise I must question your IQ.
 
kingrob said:
More users = more money.

And please dont tell me they dont have enough cash to do it, otherwise I must question your IQ.
Click to expand...

lol... I question my IQ all the time. And yes I do realize how deep their pockets go.

More users = more money. True. The problem here is environmental impact studies/government etc

However, as with any business, the cost needs to justify the potential income and even though these guys are raking it in, you'd need to realize that profit/greed also plays a factor in some of their decisions.

The mobile data space has always been hindered by the fact that they can't roll out enough towers quickly enough (like I mentioned above, environmental impact studies/government). Sole reason why I moved away from mobile providers and got myself an ADSL line (even though it was a tough process, it's much better for me in the long run)
 
Slightly off topic, but the MTN 1 day internet ? I used that two days ago. The product itself, conforms to the terms and conditions, but on the whole, it's a total disappointment, full stop. The speed should be maintained the full 24 hours. And the minute you hook up a normal mtn sim with an ordinary bundle, the speeds are suddenly up again.
 
I have to agree. This is why I am using blackberry.. So I do not have to worry about data bundles because it is a flat fee of R60 for unlimited (****) Internet...

We need data prices more on this line, even R100 per gigabyte is an improvement. I really wish everything would just go unlimited...
 
Was thinking of creating a facebook page called "help I'm a South African and I being robbed" for this sort of thing but don't have the time
 
chop007 said:
Oh yes finally there are actually people with sense in this world I thought it was just me finding MTN ridiculously expensive. I have however tried both 8ta and Vodacom. 8ta I thought would be great and at first it was with there 2+1gb prepaid data bundle I was running wcdma/hsdpa speeds and extremely happy then 3 months down the road....bammm, could not get a decent 8ta signal in the same location I used to get perfect single. Vodacom I tried before that and there prices are in the medium range but their sales consultants are egotistical apes who charge you to set up your phone with basic connectivity settings and there single is average 3g. Then I got myself a SGS2-GTI9100 through MTN and the network speeds are just amazing, not even a hiccup but then two days later...bammm..500mb gone, after just viewing 1 or two web pages a day and downloading a wallpaper or two while making sure none of my apps are syncing anonymously. I mean, seriously people what a world.. we the consumers are being ripped off lock, stock and barrel and some ANC fat cat is raking in millions from these companies through corruption. It is so blatantly obvious the amount of control that is exerted over the people of this nation. If they do not nail you with tax, they lie to you and feed you stories of fantastic data prices and speeds. The only problem is these prices are tied up in so many clever tricks and small print that by the time you actually look at your usage and the price, you are actually worse off than before. In a country where children are starving, woman are being raped and the unemployment rate is sky high you would think these companies would make a more open and gentle consumer friendly environment to foster growth, stabillity and a sense of menial satisfaction, but no, the fat cats are greedy and need their extra 2 million to buy a house in the Hamptons while their own brothers and sisters are starving. Bastards, you make me sick. And what is more, everyone, no matter who you are, will pay the price for their wrongs they do to people, in this life or the next. WAKE UP PEOPLE.
Click to expand...

Great post & 150% true.

Thats why I basically cannot stand MTN.

The South African public made them number 1 in Africa & funded their expansion overseas.

So, you would think the least MTN could have done, was to offer South Africans lower call & data rates....right?

Well, it seems MTN is more willing to give Nigerians low call rates than the poor people who helped them to become the giant they are today.
 
AcidRaZor said:
The only thing standing between you and cheaper mobile broadband data is simple: Towers

Believe it or not, the tower only has "X" amount of bandwidth to handle calls/data without going over capacity. When a tower does start to reach capacity, plans are drawn up to install a new tower to help alleviate traffic.

The cost of which is quite high (and one of the big reasons why MTN/Vodacom/Cell-C etc has a "combined tower" effort where all of them use 1 tower for their clients calls/data)

This is excluding the backhaul required from the tower to the exchange which could cost quite a bit more if they have to rely on Telkom... and this is one of the reasons why the big guns have started investing in their own fiber infrastructure for backhaul, which, in the long-run, will make it faster/cheaper.

Considering ALL those costs, compared with a physical copper line going from your house to the exchange (and whatever backhaul they already have at the exchange going to the ISP's etc), hard-lines like ADSL is way cheaper and thus can offer bandwidth and uncapped pricing without real throttling/capping of speed (depending on which ISP you're used to)

By keeping per meg pricing high enough to deter users .... to use it all the time for downloads or stuff like youtube as they have a capacity problem on the tower which would be a significant cost to them to install new towers to handle the load...and trust me, a light user with uncapped ability WILL become a heavy user sooner or later... take my dad and sister for example, the amount of youtube videos they watch is insane, bye bye "cap")

The lower the pricing the more users would use it the less capacity the tower will have the more it will cost them in infrastructure to keep you happy... because I foresee another rant in the future from you bitching about the speeds... so you can either have cheaper mobile Internet, or you can have speed.

Last point. It's always a good idea to shop around for prepaid data bundles as they've proven to be a lot cheaper than your out of bundle rates. I agree, it's "ridiculous", but if you understand the cost involved, you'll start to understand why it's what it is
Click to expand...
No the only thing between us and cheaper broadband is more networks. Throw the door open and give licenses to every tom dick and harry want to start a ISP here. If our local Networks go out of business tough. They had their change and decided to use their monopoly to choke the **** out of us.

Towers all that stuff means nothing. They can re use streams of users in that cell on UDP. Assign all their customers one IP like MTN does in Nigeria and the whole lot of them share a xxx amount of bandwidth. The plain fact that it is not real TC/IP but some protocols get simulated of the protocol they can do all sort of tricks to rip us off even further. They keep on saying towers and this and this and that cost. Hell what did Cell C do. 900 stations whoop other Antenna UMTS 900. What did they really spend. Not much. A new antenna. Wish someone would educate the rest of the country of mobile broadband really works so they can open up their eyes and realize we are been taken for a big ride. Not just MTN. All of them. They are in kahoots making back door deals to keep the prices in their favor. Look at the USA. Lots of ISPs cheap data huge amount of options.

Times like this I feel like ripping them off again with their crappy Nafus software and broken gateways.

Backhaul from the exchange.. You are going to a router then gets routed to their gateway and then they dont see you again when the data come back. That router can go over any network and they don't carry the cost. Don't even mention telkom because then mobile broadband would be real TCP/IP and not simulated. Telkom hard lines are real TCP/IP and there is no simulation. Mobile Broadband use arp proxies to get onto the Internet.
 
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simply put: hello, we are mtn, a service for the rich only, who want to tie themselves with annoying contracts and use exhorbitant amounts of moola, if you do not conform, bugger off now, go on shoo, and by the way, hello mtn, hello the future!! damn, i should work for the honesty department in mtn
 
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