When will iBurst drop prices...?

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jannievanzyl said:
But this does not mean we cannot PLAN already. Thus all the questions and discussions on the forum the last few weeks. ;)
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Tanks jannie for keeping us updated. I think iburst customers know more about iburst future plans than any other service provider in SA. Just the way i like it;)
 
Simple question: What is iBurst's primary business goal; and what the primary responsibility of it's CEO?

Simple answer: To show a decent growth in terms of profit and subscribers, and more importantly to meet, or surpass the expected returns to it's investors.

Sorry; that is just how businesses work. You may have high hopes to see any morally decent price drops...
 
We are upgrading the iBurst website this weekend – to make it better for you.

This means that from 8 pm on Friday, 14 August until 5am on Monday,
17 August you will not be able to buy bandwidth boosters,
top- ups, or do balance enquiries, etc. on the site.
Click to expand...

One more day to go, can't wait to see what this new iBurst website has got to offer.
 
We'd also like to see the RESELLERS be able to take advantage of the new packages as well (at the same price).

The nice thing about resellers is that there is no PPU (no matter what).
 
vatso said:
Simple question: What is iBurst's primary business goal; and what the primary responsibility of it's CEO?

Simple answer: To show a decent growth in terms of profit and subscribers, and more importantly to meet, or surpass the expected returns to it's investors.

Sorry; that is just how businesses work. You may have high hopes to see any morally decent price drops...
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As is, iBurst is terribly overpriced for boosters and PPU. Their basic packages are in line with ADSL at present but that's only because Telkom line rental fees make those prices even higher. For example a 10GB account at R999 with 2 boosters of 3GB each = 16GB but costs the same as 2x iBurst accounts at 10GB and then 2x softcapped 64bps connections (ie an effective 128kbps).

The PPU prices are even higher at R1000 or so per GB. Obviously they don't want people to download too much and now that SEACOM is bringing in cheaper international b/w those booster prices should drop like a stone or caps should double or tripple (unless they keep their mentality of not wanting people to DL too much. With increasing competition - that will become difficult and only those happy with small caps and no other alternatives (WiMax, Neotel, 3G and DSL) will stay with iBurst.

So that means fewer customers and less profit.

Neotel's offering of speeds up to 2.4Mbps and uncapped far trounces iBurst's 10GB offering for R999. Even the 64k softcap can be switched off.
 
I don't know if anybody else noticed this on the iBurst Wireless Pricelist PDF file:

At the bottom under "Notes":

• All prices effective 1 August 2009 to 30 September 2009 and subject to stock availability.

I think they are bringing out the new packages at the end of September / beginning of October.

EDIT: Here's the link http://www.iburst.co.za/documents/packages/wireless_retail.pdf
 
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razer1980 said:
I don't know if anybody else noticed this on the iBurst Wireless Pricelist PDF file:

At the bottom under "Notes":

• All prices effective 1 August 2009 to 30 September 2009 and subject to stock availability.

I think they are bringing out the new packages at the end of September / beginning of October.

EDIT: Here's the link http://www.iburst.co.za/documents/packages/wireless_retail.pdf
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I noticed that they increased the price of the USB modem, it used to be R2000 - now it's R2439. It seems strange unless this is a faster modem, but usually same technology items go down in price - here iBurst has jacked the price up. The Rand is also strong at R8 to 1 US Dollar.
 
The question still stands;

When will iBurst drop prices...?
 
Migration fees and Modem Costs

Some more points here:

Why do customers have to pay if they downgrade their package, but not if they upgrade?
(Well maybe on the packages below 1GB I can understand it...)

Is there a fee?
Not if you’re moving up (paying more p/m).
A once-off fee will be charged when moving down (paying less p/m).

* Month-2-month: R99
* 24-Month: Depends on the package you choose
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So say I start off with a 3 Gig Package, then upgrade it to 5 Gig, then a couple of months down the line decide to go back to 3 Gig... I am back where I started and iBurst have already received more income from me... Why the charge?

24-Month:
Why is it dependent upon the "package you choose" and again why is it being charged for?

Looking at the iBurst 24 Month Rates vs. Month to Month rates irrespective of the package chosen (Excluding the "FreeFlow" 10 MB Package... :D) the following is clear:

http://www.iburst.co.za/documents/packages/wireless_retail.pdf

About R 30 per month extra vs. month to Month for a USB modem.
R 360 per Annum - Thus R720 total amount
Then:
USB modem Retail price: R 2439

About R 40 per month extra vs. month to Month for a Desktop modem.
R 480 per Annum - Thus R 960 total amount
Then:
Desktop modem Retail price: R 2839

So firstly the cost of the modem is being 'subsidized' by the subscription but not nearly covered entirely.
Secondly on 24 Month there is no difference between the various packages that you pay 'extra' per month vs. Month to Month for the modem.
Hence again the question - Why the charge to migrate down on a 24 Month contract?

This brings me to Month to Month:
Bearing in mind that the customer purchases their own modem...
Looking at the figures above (costs of modems vs. costs recouped over 24 Months) the rates should be FAR cheaper than a 24 Month contract.
What is being overcharged for?
The modem or the monthly subscription?
And again the question - why the R 99 fee to migrate downwards?
 
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VERY good post Gekco!

I paid R99 to migrate UP. I discovered that my package was an old one and I was paying more for less bandwidth. To migrate up to the bigger package which would cost me less, I had to pay R99. After being ripped off on the old package to the value of about R150 per month for I dunno how many months, while having to regularly fork out for extra bandwidth at their extortionist prices, they still had the cheek to make me pay R99!

iBurst is fast generating bad feeling.
 
Thanks Shaun. I'm sure you are referring more to Gekco's post, but its encouraging to feel heard.
 
Downloaded -46 MB
Uploaded -259 MB
Total -305 MB

wooohooo iBurst you owe me 305mb of out of bundle bandwidth @ R1/mb thats R305
yay, do i get me a credit note? :)
 
Gekco said:
...

This brings me to Month to Month:
Bearing in mind that the customer purchases their own modem...
Looking at the figures above (costs of modems vs. costs recouped over 24 Months) the rates should be FAR cheaper than a 24 Month contract.
What is being overcharged for?
The modem or the monthly subscription?
And again the question - why the R 99 fee to migrate downwards?
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While in no way do I support this, I can understand the use of such tactics. Signing a 24 month contract in essence allows a company to budget the required bandwidth and resources for the contract term, a change to this may have consequences.

E.g. if all customers suddenly downgraded to a 40mb contract, the contracts iburst has signed with IS or whoever may suddenly be a bit excessive, which then means iburst will be losing.

All they're doing is passing on this contract risk onto the customer do a degree.

Like I say, I don't like it as I'm the customer who gets shafted, but I can understand it to a degree.

- Note : I apologise for not putting this more eloquently, but I hope its still legible.
 
JustinB said:
While in no way do I support this, I can understand the use of such tactics. Signing a 24 month contract in essence allows a company to budget the required bandwidth and resources for the contract term, a change to this may have consequences.

E.g. if all customers suddenly downgraded to a 40mb contract, the contracts iburst has signed with IS or whoever may suddenly be a bit excessive, which then means iburst will be losing.

All they're doing is passing on this contract risk onto the customer do a degree.

Like I say, I don't like it as I'm the customer who gets shafted, but I can understand it to a degree.

- Note : I apologise for not putting this more eloquently, but I hope its still legible.
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I hear what you are saying but...

If your customers are happy with the service being provided and feel that they are receiving good value for money..
Why would they all downgrade to 40Mb?

If they are not happy...
Then that is a different situation entirely...
 
And hence the question raised elsewhere re. Bandwidth booster prices.

Surely someone that has a 10 Gig account should not be paying the same for a 'booster' than someone on a 40 Mb account.

That way more revenue can be recouped from the customers that are not giving iBurst much in terms of monthly subscriptions, whereas those that are already paying a lot every month will get it a a much discounted rate.

So what I am saying is:
If I downgrade my Account to 40Mb I must expect to pay more to top-up. (Which would entice me to move to a higher package if I regularly exceed my monthly bandwidth)
And Vice versa.
 
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