Web Africa's new ADSL pricing revealed

[fvdbergh]

Far from out of touch we know exactly what you guys want. It's simply not possible to give it at our size.

Yep. Buying off the older myBB members with that 30GB deal could have worked. I guess the numbers were a bit off --- you will have to buy off more than 100 people to keep this forum quiet.

At any rate, you say "It's simply not possible to give it at our size". Guess that will be less of a problem next week.

 

[waroop]

Hi Guys

LOL at the R1 decrease in pre-paid - what a joke!!

Its really unfair to emphasize this as the core of the pricing update endeavor. Quite honestly this change was more just an aesthetic one, and nonetheless, compared against a number of other providers this is in fact quite competitive- sure not Afrihost but they have publicly stated they are selling at a loss and subsidising their marketing budget to support this.

There are many other area's of our new pricing that are quite competitive (eg: R169 DSL Complete, Unshaped, R45 p/gb on the high-end stuff etc...).

We are keenly focused on the MyBB community - our recent 30GB @ R199 special is testament to this!

 

[allaneng]

Afrihost have said more than once that they're selling below cost.
So, assuming Afrihost still exists in a few months/years, then yes - WA fail.

Don't quite see how they are selling below cost, as they aren't charged for per GB but rather for speed.
By offering the 1/2 price topups, they are boosting their turnover and I am sure they will bum it sufficiently to cover their costs!

 

[rsd]

RSD This is partially true. And some have said "leave mybb behind they not worth it". But I can't accept that. If you don't participate and are able to to stand up in the fire then what are you? We have always welcomed criticism. Far from out of touch we know exactly what you guys want. It's simply not possible to give it at our size.

It's a check and balances system. Ultimately we still going to run specials here and participate. But yes the focus will become more mainstream.

So the decision now to not obliterate our revenue and risk going under and to focus on long term value. I know people are impatient. But lets see 2 years down the line if it paid off. I know we will achieve what we set out to: Not only be the ISP you can recommend to your mom and pop but also the one that has something for the power users.

I wish you guys luck. I think it's strange that people are so angry about the pricing - there are other ISPs if you're just looking for cheap data. I would still recommend WA to someone IT-challenged who could benefit from the support line and an all-inclusive package. I hope something for power users eventually sees the light of day.

I think you would have had a lot less backlash if you had stated emphatically that you had to recoup the investment in your own network and had no plans to wade into the current price war straight away. A lot of people have been waiting for this announcement with the assumption that the new network would be a cost saving thing, whereas it seems more like it will afford you the flexibility to offer things like unmetered steam content servers.

 

[fragtion]

The other providers have their market. Axxess for the high end user with their uncapped offerings, Cybersmart for the low end users, and Afrihost 'apparently' running at a loss to provide cheap per-gig rates.

The big issue here is that WA have now lumped themselves in the Telkom and Mweb market, and that's a bit of a no-no on these boards.

+1 ... Well said dude

 

[Pilgrim]

I have only one question for WA how much did SAT3 drop when seacom went live? (was it only 10%?)

That is a very good question. How do they justify not dropping their prices, when we know that SAT3 prices dropped when Seacom entered the market (heck, even before Seacom went live)

We simply cannot afford to suddenly halve our revenue, while our cost staying the same.

wamatt, when exactly will you be able to lower your prices? If your costs stay the same when international bandwidth costs have come down then there is something very, very wrong with your business model.

 

[Belial]

Wow, pathetic. Makes staying with my current ISP a no brainer!

 

[Smooth Criminal]

Hi Guys


Its really unfair to emphasize this as the core of the pricing update endeavor. Quite honestly this change was more just an aesthetic one, and nonetheless, compared against a number of other providers this is in fact quite compettive - sure not Afrihost but they have publicly stated they are selling at a loss and subsidising their marketing budget to support this.

There are many other area's of our new pricing that are quite competitive (eg: R169 DSL Complete, Unshaped, R45 p/gb on the high-end stuff etc...).

We are keenly focused on the MyBB community - our recent 30GB @ R199 special is testament to this!

At first they were. The fact that they continue selling it at that price (and quite often even half that price) leads me to believe that they're no longer running at a loss if they managed to decrease their cost price.

On the point of the 100 accounts - were there only 100 people that supported you in 2005?

 

[guest2013-1]

Not all are pissed off maybe 95% are

I think the main problem WA has is that it invensted in this tier 1 network and for them to sustain that they can't take a massive revenue knock by reducing their 30 000 + base subscribers.

We are the tech savvy guys and find it unacceptable compared to other offerings. But a mailer going out to 30 000 + people might make them very happy. Remember they are not informed and will be happy with the reductions.

This was a pure business decision from WA based on sound research of their consumer base.

We might be unhappy but the most uninformed people from their current subscriber base will disagree.

I still say give them time, though this might of hurt their reputation on MyBB.

You forget, it's us tech-savvy guys who recommended people to web africa in the first place... and it's us, the tech-savvy guys, who can recommend someone else. Because, after all, dumbassed clients and clueless sheeples out there would listen when we, the tech-savvy guys, speak.

I've brought Web Africa, over the course of a year or two, over R100k in revenue. That's just ME. Imagine all their resellers and other folks word of mouth changing from "Web Africa" to "Afrihost".... just imagine... now imagine how much these *******s will struggle paying for their own network now that they don't have our backing anymore.... think about this for a second:

WE MADE WEB AFRICA WHAT IT IS TODAY. IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE TECH-SAVVY GROUP OF PEOPLE FROM THESE FORUMS, THEY WOULD HAVE NEVER BECOME A TIER-1 PROVIDER

Bite the hand that feeds you... okay... Web Africa. Enjoy your little sheeple that sticks with you because they're too dumb to turn on (or use) a coffee maker never mind the "internets".... you can take their money... but I ain't going to stick around or recommend anymore clients or people to you....

 

[SwaziSeedless]

I have been waiting patiently for the "big pricing update" announcement and this is what I get..... I am currently on a 5gig package at R290-00 per month - the pricing stays the same and I get an extra gig. whoop-de-frikking-dooo.
Even Telkom's recent offering was more attractive than this and they still offer me 25gig local at no extra cost.

As soon as I have done typing this I am off to cancel my WA account.

Thanks for nothing.

 

[Lino]

Hi Guys


Its really unfair to emphasize this as the core of the pricing update endeavor. Quite honestly this change was more just an aesthetic one, and nonetheless, compared against a number of other providers this is in fact quite competitive- sure not Afrihost but they have publicly stated they are selling at a loss and subsidising their marketing budget to support this.

There are many other area's of our new pricing that are quite competitive (eg: R169 DSL Complete, Unshaped, R45 p/gb on the high-end stuff etc...).

We are keenly focused on the MyBB community - our recent 30GB @ R199 special is testament to this!

No arguing on that, however with your respect there is much uncertainty with the 30GB @ R199 special. Until we know members have it, we all have our doubts.

 

[rsd]

Hi Guys


Its really unfair to emphasize this as the core of the pricing update endeavor. Quite honestly this change was more just an aesthetic one, and nonetheless, compared against a number of other providers this is in fact quite competitive- sure not Afrihost but they have publicly stated they are selling at a loss and subsidising their marketing budget to support this.

There are many other area's of our new pricing that are quite competitive (eg: R169 DSL Complete, Unshaped, R45 p/gb on the high-end stuff etc...).

We are keenly focused on the MyBB community - our recent 30GB @ R199 special is testament to this!

I woudln't say it's unfair - it's the only part of the pricing announcement that's relevant to 90% of MyBB users. Most people aren't going to move their lines to WA.

I think your DSL complete packages are great, just not for me.

 

[Wag]

If you ever have to write a book/essay/docotorate about MY BIGGEST MARKETING ERROR then this is a winner

 

[fvdbergh]

WE MADE WEB AFRICA WHAT IT IS TODAY. IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE TECH-SAVVY GROUP OF PEOPLE FROM THESE FORUMS, THEY WOULD HAVE NEVER BECOME A TIER-1 PROVIDER

+1. I went with WA on the strength of recommendations on myBB.

 

[guest2013-1]

its also very easy to hate on us. But yes we've put a lot of money into our new network. What about the other large providers? We are the only ones dropping prices.

And we committing to dropping them again mid year.

I'm sorry if this sounds rude but ARE YOU STONED?

The other large providers dropped their prices almost 6 months ago.... well below your "price drop" announcement of today.... stop comparing yourself with Mweb, seriously, they're a loser company... are you a loser company? Or are you doing like iBurst and comparing your services with the cellular providers? Or the MOST EXPENSIVE "large providers" out there? Catch a frikking wake up

 

[Paragon]

Its scary that even after the price reduction, they're still more expensive than telkom...TELKOM.....thats something special

EDIT: i hate to bash on a company thats done really well...but with this "price drop" they went from an above par company to sub-standard imo.

Ive always seen them as leading the pack...now they're just so far behind....sad sad day

 

[Lino]

Although Web Africa, I was also waiting for your new prices, can't help but feel disappointed. I think a lot of us were expecting so much more, perhaps we expected too much? I do think this will cause serious damage with a lot of your clients

 

[ettienem]

+1. I went with WA on the strength of recommendations on myBB.

So did myself and quite a few of our clients
I will be recommending to them that we move their accounts to Afrihost!!!

 

[Necuno]

so the knight turns out to be an ogre

 

[wamatt]

Yep. Buying off the older myBB members with that 30GB deal could have worked. I guess the numbers were a bit off --- you will have to buy off more than 100 people to keep this forum quiet.

At any rate, you say "It's simply not possible to give it at our size". Guess that will be less of a problem next week.

Your tone aside, honestly we making the effort. Are other offering such specials? Yes it is buying goodwill absolutely but nevertheless its costing us a real packet. R7 per gb!. But we do recognise myBB and compete. I'm not sure we can say the same for the other major players.

Some say the large guys are not our competitors, but that argument holds no weight. Anyone remember a company called "All you can eat". They were hailed by the mybb informed members as being revolutionary and changing the landscape. Where are they now.