WiMax pricing defended

[francoislr]

Either way I'm willing to bet that I wont get coverage from either even though I live in Pretoria.

Consider yourself saved from expensive internet then

 

[biltonguy]

So basically what they are saying is they dont have to compete with Telkom WiMax because its not actually an optional product (only if ADSL isnt available).

So iBurst and Vodacom are acting like they are first to market, and so are setting the "first" prices?

 

[Pilgrim]

actually when I tried to get Wimax from Telkom I was told that they can only bill me if I have a phone line with them.
This was same time last year, but I could definitely NOT get Wimax without also having a phone line.
not defending Vodacom, but Telkom is no better.

They must have changed that when they realised it is stupid to expect people to have a fixed line when they order wireless products

From the website:

How is Fixed Wireless Broadband (WiMAX) billed?

You will be billed separately for WiMAX and your ISP (even TelkomInternet). If you have a Telkom telephone account, this will be separate as well. The Fixed Wireless Broadband related prices are incremental (over and above) to your existing telephone monthly line rental, installation charge and telephone calls. The following line entries will appear on your bill once you subscribe:

As for not getting Wimax in an area with ADSL I heard it can be done.

What bugs me is that vodacom is so quick to lie about their competition in an attempt to justify their own absurd prices.

Lastly, I HATE telscum. I really really hate them. But ibust, vodacom, mtn and neotel are not offering ANYTHING usable, so there it is.

What some people want is the ability to CHOOSE.

Eg. I want a 2 gig shaped account, a 30 gig local account and a 1 gig prepaid unshaped account that rolls over for a couple of months. With ADSL you can do all this. With telscum Wimax you can do all this.

But alas, with vodacom and ibust you cannot. You must pay a price THEY choose for a package THEY choose.

Good luck with that, scumbags.

 

[Rouxenator]

R855.00 per month for the broadband service, capped at 5 GB, at 512Kbps

That is insane ! You can get 1Mbps with 5GB for R556 from Amobia or if you use a 2Mbps connection it will be R567 for 5GB.

R 1 334.00 for a 1 Mbps WiMax service with 10 GB

R901 from Amobia or R912 if you go with 2Mbps

Vodacom and iBurst is however confident that their pricing falls in line with industry standards

Yes - the South African industry standards of not giving a vark about the customers and milking them like a cow while giving them rear entry violation in order to rip out their cash.

 

[stoke]

Somehow methinks uptake of this product is going to be dismal.

 

[chubster]

One would have hoped that Vodacom would have a positive influence on iBurst, but sadly it seem that Vodacom is becoming more and more like iBurst.

Probably because iBurst had to pay for Survivor...

 

[BBSA]

Somehow methinks uptake of this product is going to be dismal.

 

[sunsoffun]

iBurst said that it can not disclose how the pricing levels were calculated for WiMax due to confidentiality, but feels that it is not out of line with current market related prices.

WTF... ROTFLMAO!

 

[Debbie]

WTF... ROTFLMAO!

Yeah, exactly... when you strip away the PR, their 'defence' of their prices comes down to "but everyone else is doing it...".

 

[sabagamma]

Somehow methinks uptake of this product is going to be dismal.

Me too, wait for a price revision in 6 months time. It is almost embarrassing to see how out of touch these two are with what's happening on the ground.

 

[Pilgrim]

Perhaps they started their Wimax model by deciding on the price first? You know, 2 years ago?

 

[Tns]

they can keep it

 

[Mercurious]

I'm glad I installed ADSL and didn't wait for WiMax. These prices are ridiculous.

 

[krycor]

heh, its gonna be a waste.. i wonder if any other companies with the spectrum are considering a mass adoption strategy as opposed to the few + milking strategy

 

[apogeeza]

they can keep it

I agree. iMax is great; WiMax for idiots; noMax for me.

Suggested edit for your sig:

(Telkom && Vodacom && iBurst) : "Resistance is futile, your money is ours!"

 

[Gatecrasher]

Well, both these companies sell "additional" bandwidth on their other products at +-R200/Gb. So it was only to be expected... Dismal indeed.

Hopefully, all sane people will avoid.

 

[Tns]

I agree. iMax is great; WiMax for idiots; noMax for me.

Suggested edit for your sig:

(Telkom && Vodacom && iBurst) : "Resistance is futile, your money is ours!"

The evil trinity

 

[vodacom3g]

On the topic of wimax.

We have a customer in town that has CLEAR LOS of the local wimax tower..but he is 6km away from footprint edge (which is 16km)

2.4 and 5.8ghz wifi is a flop from this tower (due 2 wisp being a total shark)

Telskommel doesn't even send out a signal tester if you are not in the footprint.

So my problem with wimax is - lets say you are 15.9km from tower with NO line of sight , they'll come out and test - but 22km with 100% LOS - not going to come out.

I have a feeling iburst/vodacom might do the same..

I don't know the exact number, but I believe it's much less than 16Km. I'm 7Km away and have installed a 26dB external antenna and it works very well.

But I'm told I'm out of the official spec.