Vodacom CEO explains BlackBerry problems and plans

sin_x said:
unfortunately, jannievanzyl does not count as "good authority" in this case
:D
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I know someone that knows someone that has seen the actual figures and reports, etc. They are technically lying, since they are inflating the figures for the sake of not looking like they are lying, i.e. saying 40mb when its actually 26mb. Maybe that is the correct figure for the average over the entire 100%, or maybe its inflated, I'm not sure.

But the 26mb compressed on the majority of phones which are edge only, is probably in the region of 100-150mb of actual data before compression, I'm no expert, so don't take this as fact. I was also bummed when i first read tihs even tho I've never downloaded anything more than free promo mp3's once in a blue moon. That's how I got the details; cuse I wanted to find out for myself, instead of just moaning like the rest of the people here that were "affected".

(Granted, I did moan about when I got hold of them, lol. After they explained it, I was calmer and could see it from a more objective point of view)
 
DJ... said:
Vodacom have four ways in which they can deal with this issue.

1 - they can carry on proposing arbitrary and even moveable caps, which will no doubt result in more bad PR for them.

2 - they can look internally into the BIS service, analyse its current capabilities, project future use, transparently communicate this with their customers, and find a middle ground of VOD/RIM investment and intelligent, informed caps if necessary.

3 - they can restructure, rebrand and relaunch the entire product offering.

4 - a combination of all of the above.

We cannot forget that if the problems are that RIM have a limited APN (based on my limited understanding of the issue) then liability sits to some extent with them to increase their investment, especially considering that they wish to push more 3g capable handsets through Vodacom...
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I really think that they should rather shut up now and wait for the dust to settle before they even make any PR statement.
Any statement that they make now will be looked at with a measure of doubt and reluctance and any "show of goodwill" will be seen as a bribe or insult.

The problem is that this is not going to go away any time soon as every opporunity that Cell C will get, they will use this to their benefit.
I am also not certain how any amendments to the T&C's will fly past the CPA to assist with the implementation of "fair usage".

The only option they actually have is to offer an alternative product that allows a data bundle option of TRu Unlimited internet that includes streaming, downloads etc at a cost that the current BIS user can swop to.
 
Human said:
I really think that they should rather shut up now and wait for the dust to settle before they even make any PR statement.
Any statement that they make now will be looked at with a measure of doubt and reluctance and any "show of goodwill" will be seen as a bribe or insult.

The problem is that this is not going to go away any time soon as every opporunity that Cell C will get, they will use this to their benefit.
I am also not certain how any amendments to the T&C's will fly past the CPA to assist with the implementation of "fair usage".

The only option they actually have is to offer an alternative product that allows a data bundle option of TRu Unlimited internet that includes streaming, downloads etc at a cost that the current BIS user can swop to.
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Agreed. My earlier proposal to Jannie is not an overnight solution. Let's see what merit Vodacom think it has...
 
dracolusus said:
I know someone that knows someone that has seen the actual figures and reports, etc. They are technically lying, since they are inflating the figures for the sake of not looking like they are lying, i.e. saying 40mb when its actually 26mb. Maybe that is the correct figure for the average over the entire 100%, or maybe its inflated, I'm not sure.

But the 26mb compressed on the majority of phones which are edge only, is probably in the region of 100-150mb of actual data before compression, I'm no expert, so don't take this as fact. I was also bummed when i first read tihs even tho I've never downloaded anything more than free promo mp3's once in a blue moon. That's how I got the details; cuse I wanted to find out for myself, instead of just moaning like the rest of the people here that were "affected".

(Granted, I did moan about when I got hold of them, lol. After they explained it, I was calmer and could see it from a more objective point of view)
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You really should consider the possibility that a large number of the BB users did not moan out of ignorance but out of understanding of facts and figures and also have access to Vodacom Employees as good friends.
 
dracolusus said:
Not a clue; from my limited knowledge of networks, its not monitoring as much as running monthly reports on usage.
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I'm confused.
You spoke from as if from authority?
Are you saying now that you actually dont know?

When I generate a report with clients which consists of data for a single month it consists of at least 7 to 10 pages.
Considering that the reports that will be required to be run by VC it will be more detailed but can be as simple as a single user number and data usage, to run a report for the 95% of users are rather...errr...unbelievable.
 
Ivanr said:
Vodacom and Pieter Uys need to be congratulated not condemmed for the manner in which way this problem was treated by his office. If this problem occurred in the days of Alan Knot- craig and Joan Joffe there would have been no press statement combined with the "Stuff You" customer attitude for sure.
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I miss Joan Joffe...Shane Warne could not spin like that lady.
 
dracolusus said:
...I'd love to see someone's reaction to getting a bill for 300GB of data.
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Sorry.

But then again the NCR and assorted acts will be thrown at Vodacom for "reckless lending" etc etc...
 
since you are just a troll
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Right, attack me personally since you are unable to refute the points I've made.

And "have it on good authority" is simply a euphemism for "I pulled it out of my a..e".

Edit:
Not a clue
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Glad to see you're admitting you are clueless.
 
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Human said:
I'm confused.
You spoke from as if from authority?
Are you saying now that you actually dont know?


When I generate a report with clients which consists of data for a single month it consists of at least 7 to 10 pages.
Considering that the reports that will be required to be run by VC it will be more detailed but can be as simple as a single user number and data usage, to run a report for the 95% of users are rather...errr...unbelievable.
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I don't know how they got to the figure exactly, all I know is that it was a report that was run to pull total usage per subscriber and then average the figure. Its not future, alien technology.

What is unbelievable about running a report for 1.2mil users? I've seen billing reports run for millions of accounts, take a few hours, what's so unbelievable?
 
Valis said:
Right, attack me personally since you are unable to refute the points I've made.

And "have it on good authority" is simply a euphemism for "I pulled it out of my a..e".

Edit:

Glad to see you're admitting you are clueless.
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I don't have to prove it to you; I just felt the need to point out you are wrong, because I know the truth, thanks to some digging from my side.

I do apoloogise for the trolling comment, it was uncalled for, you weren't trolling, you were just coming from a place of ignorance, thinking your opinion could not possibly be wrong.
 
Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys, [...] was as surprised as consumers to read that his company would be implementing a 100MB usage threshold
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WTF

Thats like the US military getting its intelligence from CNN.
 
dracolusus said:
I don't know how they got to the figure exactly, all I know is that it was a report that was run to pull total usage per subscriber and then average the figure. Its not future, alien technology.

What is unbelievable about running a report for 1.2mil users? I've seen billing reports run for millions of accounts, take a few hours, what's so unbelievable?
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Well since the logistics involved to collate all reports (as per jannievanzyl since day 1) and data usage for the 95% of the total BB users and then apply an average data usage per person.
I said that I find it unbelievable but it must be possible.
 
That RIM must find a solution says to me that this is a first for them. If it's happened elsewhere before then the solution would have been implemented as a standard feature inside BIS already.

Now, why are we (SA) the first to see this abuse happening? Why not in other BIS-using markets?
 
Human said:
Well since the logistics involved to collate all reports (as per jannievanzyl since day 1) and data usage for the 95% of the total BB users and then apply an average data usage per person.
I said that I find it unbelievable but it must be possible.
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Let me ask, before I make more of an arse of myself, as Valis has so eloquently pointed out.

The main point is, the service is affected and they know why and have specifics of it, got accurate figures. Seems that no one believes anything they read any more, yet I still get those "FORWARD TO EVERYONE" spam on BBM :P
 
BeVonk! said:
That RIM must find a solution says to me that this is a first for them. If it's happened elsewhere before then the solution would have been implemented as a standard feature inside BIS already.

Now, why are we (SA) the first to see this abuse happening? Why not in other BIS-using markets?
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This has happened elsewhere and afaik the soft cap introduced was 5Gb. Says a lot, hey?
 
BeVonk! said:
That RIM must find a solution says to me that this is a first for them. If it's happened elsewhere before then the solution would have been implemented as a standard feature inside BIS already.

Now, why are we (SA) the first to see this abuse happening? Why not in other BIS-using markets?
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This is actually not the first time VC knows about this.
Jannie has answered some pointed questions I had with clear answers that makes it clear that VC has a) been monitoring data usage since day 1 and b) that a solution is required for a few months already and that a decision was made because they (VC) could not wait anymore.

jannievanzyl said:
How was the data usage trend monitored?

We can monitor usage per subscriber on the BB APN.

How long has the data usage trend been monitored?

From day 1, but it became clear a few months ago people are suddenly downloading large data sets that we did not see before. This is also when people started complaning about BIS performance. We could clearly see the correlation.

When was the decision made to implement a "cap"?

We've been working on a solution with RIM for a few months but it's still some way off and could not wait anymore. Too many users are being affected. So the call was made in the last few days to go with this for now.

Are all 3G data applications including SATNAV etc. affected?

Yes, but again remember how it works, i.e. a drop in speed from 3G to 2G for all data over the threshold. The only applications that will be affected directly are real-time ones (such as video streaming) and bulk downloads will slow down. Most other apps are non-realtime or near-realtime and with them you won't see any practical effect. (Unless you send yourself a very big e-mail and time it. ;)) Again, 98% of users never get to this point.

What are the contractual options for current clients?

Not sure if I understand your question, but I don't believe it changes in any way.
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dracolusus said:
Let me ask, before I make more of an arse of myself, as Valis has so eloquently pointed out.

The main point is, the service is affected and they know why and have specifics of it, got accurate figures. Seems that no one believes anything they read any more, yet I still get those "FORWARD TO EVERYONE" spam on BBM :P
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I apologise I am being pedantic. :D
I just hate it when we are expected to swallow facts without any substantiation of said facts.
 
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