R59 flat-rated Nokia data bundles: all the details

Nashua Mobile launched its new “Xtreme Data Service” (XDS) deal for certain Nokia devices today (7 March 2012), offering contract users a flat-rated bundle at R59 per month.

As one might expect from such a cheap uncapped package it does have a number of restrictions, mainly in the form of speed throttling and limiting access to certain services:

• Speeds are limited to 512kbps.
• Services such as YouTube are blocked.
• Fair use policy applies with specific usage thresholds at 100MB and 160MB per month.
• At 100MB speeds are throttled to 256kbps.
• At 160MB speeds are throttled to 56kbps.

The service provider bills the product as a flat-rated data package for on-device web browsing, e-mail access, social networking, and instant messaging.

In its terms and conditions, Nashua Mobile states that the intended use for this bundle is as follows:

• Web-browsing;
• E-mail access with calendar, shared contacts, Tasks and Notes;
• Social Networking with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn;
• Instant messaging with WhatsApp, Facebook Chat and Mxit;

Nashua Mobile goes on to explain that using your Nokia device as a 3G modem would be considered abuse and that they may terminate your service if you use it tethered to a computer.

It also advises users that “excessive application downloads” and e-mail attachments will count towards their fair use thresholds. Nashua Mobile advised to not download attachments larger than 1MB onto your handset.

Fair use policy

Fair use thresholds are clearly spelled out and users will be notified by SMS before they hit the 100MB and 160MB usage marks.

Tim Walter, executive head of marketing at Nashua Mobile, explained that a user’s full speed will restored at the beginning of every month.

At the first tier of throttling (100MB), Walter said users will still find the service suitable for doing the things that Xtreme Data is intended for such as e-mail, browsing, social networking and instant messaging.

At the 160MB threshold, Walter said that the user experience will still be suitable for most services, but that uploading or downloading files will be difficult.

Tim Walter, executive head of marketing at Nashua Mobile

No temporary switch to normal data service

Asked whether a subscriber could temporarily switch to a more conventional data service should they want to tether their device or watch a YouTube video, Walter explained that it isn’t possible.

“In designing the service, we wanted to avoid a situation where an XDS user unwittingly accessed the standard network APN and was billed for this data,” Walter said.

“We have therefore disabled access to the standard networks on the service. As a result, the subscriber would not be able to switch away temporarily,” Walter said. “Whilst this sacrifices some flexibility, it ensures that the customers will have the security and predictability of a fixed monthly data cost.”

How is Nashua able to offer this service?

Walter revealed that they are able to offer this flat-rated deal by using the commercial APN services of Vodacom and MTN.

Data on these services cost double than you would pay on a corporate APN, which raised the question of whether operators wouldn’t easily be able to respond to Nashua Mobile’s deal.

“We’d welcome it,” Walter said, adding that Nashua Mobile would also want to offer such packages from the operators.

Walter was unwilling to share how much capacity they have on their commercial APNs, but said that they have installed “more than sufficient capacity to cover our expected growth.”

Nashua Mobile will continue to expand its capacity to ensure that the user experience meets expectation, Walter said.

Devices supported, prepaid plans?

For the moment, Nashua Mobile’s Xtreme Data Service is limited to contract customers using the Nokia C3, X2-01, N8, E5 or E7 handsets.

Asked whether they plan to bring the deal to prepaid customers, Walter said they are primarily a contract player and that a prepaid offering is not a priority for them at this stage.

Nashua Mobile also won’t be offering the service to other device brands anytime soon as they have a 6 month exclusivity agreement with Nokia, Walter said.

While there are no plans to offer XDS for the Nokia N9 due to the slow uptake of the device in Nashua Mobile’s channel, Walter said that they are conducting trials on the Nokia Lumia 800 to see what usage profiles are like.

“The aim is certainly to launch a premium version of this service to cater for data hungry handsets,” Walter said.

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