Vodafone partner roaming - costs

[v3gout]

With my latest statement came a letter that states that the cost of HSDPA/3G/GPRS/... data on Vodafone partner networks is R17.50 per megabyte. Can anybody give a reasonable explanation why it should cost so much more than local usage? I can understand that there are additional costs involved in setting up interconnect agreements, and extra billing work that has to be performed; but should that make the cost 50 times (approx.) higher? Or do Voda{com,fone} just not want people to roam?

 

[vodacom3g]

With my latest statement came a letter that states that the cost of HSDPA/3G/GPRS/... data on Vodafone partner networks is R17.50 per megabyte. Can anybody give a reasonable explanation why it should cost so much more than local usage? I can understand that there are additional costs involved in setting up interconnect agreements, and extra billing work that has to be performed; but should that make the cost 50 times (approx.) higher? Or do Voda{com,fone} just not want people to roam?

When you roam you pay the foreign data rate, not your local rate..

And these foreign network charges are the bulk of what you see. Try and roam on a non-Vodafone network and you'll easily see R100/MB.

A good option, if you intend to use a fair amount of data, is to get a local, pre-paid SIM in the foreign country. But check rates first.

 

[FireTelkom]

I have just returned from the UK and found a much better option than roaming. It is called 3. 3 is a new network with low call charges and very low broadband rates. For HSPDA access at 3.6Mbps, you pay £10 for 1Gig per month, £15 for 3 Gig and £25 for 7Gig per month. Just think, on prepay in the UK you pay R350 for 7Gig of data.

On the call side, 3 sells a phone that allow you to stay connected through their 3G network on Skype. Up to 4000 minutes of skype calls per month is included free of charge. The phone has Iskoot build in that routes the skype calls through a normal call to a server. This means that you can be driving through London while talking for free to any person in SA on Skype.

Is it not perhaps time for Vodacom to partner with Iskoot to allow us a free Iskoot access number and in this way keep skype traffic of the normal HSPDA network.

Regards

FireTelkom

 

[Syndyre]

With my latest statement came a letter that states that the cost of HSDPA/3G/GPRS/... data on Vodafone partner networks is R17.50 per megabyte. Can anybody give a reasonable explanation why it should cost so much more than local usage? I can understand that there are additional costs involved in setting up interconnect agreements, and extra billing work that has to be performed; but should that make the cost 50 times (approx.) higher? Or do Voda{com,fone} just not want people to roam?

Roaming is just more expensive for everything, but the Vodafone agreements help, I've been billed R50/min for voice before.