Virgin Mobile competes on price

I mostly do browsing and mails at home and for that Cell C's EDGE is doing just fine. It was dreadfully slow a couple of months ago, but they have made improvements/upgrades lately. 50c/MB is just too good to ignore.

If I want to do the occasional remote desktop to the office I can just swop my simcard with a Vodacom one.
 
ajax said:
I mostly do browsing and mails at home and for that Cell C's EDGE is doing just fine. It was dreadfully slow a couple of months ago, but they have made improvements/upgrades lately. 50c/MB is just too good to ignore.

If I want to do the occasional remote desktop to the office I can just swop my simcard with a Vodacom one.
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Nice arrangement :D ..

Im just gonna be w8ing for MNP to come out so i can keep my precious number, and that doesnt seem like its gonna be very soon. ICASA only recently (1 month ago) sorted out the tendor for the CRDB (interface between between the operators), so the company havent even started developing it yet :mad:
 
I'm trying to decide how important number portability is for me. Not really phased about getting a new number - sure it took ages to learn it but I'm sure with diligence I can do it again. :p

The qn then becomes - how long do I give vodacom to better Virgin's prices? A billing cycle perhaps.
 
I'm also waiting for number portability. It's not such a big issue for me, it's more about the people that call me. I have a whole family of people that are gatvol of the lousy Vodacom reception where they live and are just waiting for NP to swap to another network ;)
This flat rate across all networks thing is awesome, does that apply to telkom numbers as well?

Good luck Branson et al, it's great to see some real price competition!
 
bwana v.12 said:
I'm trying to decide how important number portability is for me. Not really phased about getting a new number - sure it took ages to learn it but I'm sure with diligence I can do it again. :p

The qn then becomes - how long do I give vodacom to better Virgin's prices? A billing cycle perhaps.
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yup. Worst case, change your existing phone to pay-as-you-go, and slowly convert everyone ot the new number.

I cannot believe anyone would rather be "ripped a new one" than change to a cheaper provider, all for a phone number.
 
savage said:
Hmm. Most calls last less than 5 minutes though? So surely, most of the time, you're charged the high rate????
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the way I read it is that the first 5 minutes of calls (combined count) is at the higher rate.

So, if I make 10 30 second calls, they are billed at the higher rate. the 11th call is cheaper.
 
savage said:
Hmm. Most calls last less than 5 minutes though? So surely, most of the time, you're charged the high rate????
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No, they mean if you have used a total of 5 minutes, then all calls thereafter are charged at the lower rate. Same for sms.
"Prepaid customers will pay R 2-35 for the first five minutes per day and then drop down to R 1-55 for the remainder of the day."
EDIT: You beat me to it, Moederloos
 
Hmm yeah ok, that could make sense I suppose... 5 minutes / day. Heh, Do I even make that much calls on average... Aah well - it becomes my problem now :P
 
R2.35p/min?

If someone was to speak on their fone for 5min everyday it would cost them R352.50pm. The average user on other networks spend about R140-R160pm, if i remember correctly. This means that the majority of VM users will never reach that cheaper post 5min period. The post 5min cheaper period is simply there to encourage people to make calls. VM is here to make money people, and theyve done their sums. The per-second billing from the first second and 50c p/mb is very nice though :)
 
savage said:
Hmm yeah ok, that could make sense I suppose... 5 minutes / day. Heh, Do I even make that much calls on average... Aah well - it becomes my problem now :P
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in my case, I seldomly make that much calls. HOWEVER, having said that, I pay mopre anyway (R2-50 or so per minute) on my pre-paid Top-Up thingy.
Ask your self, if you make 5 minutes of calls per day, that is 150 minutes per month. If you pay R150 per month for a contract, and R1.80 per minute (guess figure here), you are paying 150 + (150*1.8) = 150 + 270 = R420 per month for 150 minutes = R2.80 per minute. :eek:
 
biltonguy said:
R2.35p/min?

If someone was to speak on their fone for 5min everyday it would cost them R352.50pm. The average user on other networks spend about R140-R160pm, if i remember correctly. This means that the majority of VM users will never reach that cheaper post 5min period. The post 5min cheaper period is simply there to encourage people to make calls. VM is here to make money people, and theyve done their sums. The per-second billing from the first second and 50c p/mb is very nice though :)
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maybe, but the average user you mention does NOT make 5 minutes of calls per day.
 
Moederloos said:
maybe, but the average user you mention does NOT make 5 minutes of calls per day.
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Thats what im saying, most people will never reach that 5min. To me its reads R2.35p/m full stop. The R1.55 is just a teaser.
 
biltonguy said:
Thats what im saying, most people will never reach that 5min. To me its reads R2.35p/m full stop. The R1.55 is just a teaser.
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Exactly...This seems more like another cell c to me...Not as excited. :p
 
Sheez Richard Branson even has a beard like Chuck........

As far as the five minute rule... awesome.. remember most prepaid users and not using their phones during the business week, thats what company landlines are for.....

Take my hat off to Virgin/Cell C..... might have to get a data contract thought them...... now i just need a cellphone that can take 2 sims one for data and one for calls
 
like the idea of no need to distinguish between offpeak and peak times. With the introduction of MTN's 'standard' time it really gets people confused. This kind of pricing is much more transparent than MTN's '40% reduction' - but only during standard time...
 
On pricing...

MTN / Vcom and CellC are more expensive on peak calls, so even making a minute of peak calls a day is cheaper on VM.

Personally I think a single pricing model is great, just a little worried that they're quite expensive in later hours at R1.55 if I make a late night call.

If they have a contract that's simply a bill related to usage with no free minutes or other crud like that, then I *WILL* save plenty even at R1.55 minimum rate with the first 5 at 2.35!

D
 
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