WhatsApp voice calling: will you be charged more for VoIP data?

Data is data, the protocol just happens to be VoIP.
 
I've lost count of the number of times this non-story has been regurgitated. And each time it is abundantly clear that they are not going to resurrect ancient tariffs or charge extra for voip data.
 
Vodacom said the likely direction for the industry was that voice pricing will be common across all carriers
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Freudian slip? I'm not sure Vodacom still carries enough clout to orchestrate common pricing 'across all carriers'. :)

Perhaps it should read 'across all bearers'?
 
Gatecrasher said:
I've lost count of the number of times this non-story has been regurgitated. And each time it is abundantly clear that they are not going to resurrect ancient tariffs or charge extra for voip data.
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It has been covered enough times. Perhaps Mybb is just making sure there is no misunderstanding (and possible backtracking by operators).

I'm still not clear, after all those rounds, whether Cell C will zero rate this or not? Personally (if I was the Cell C Senior Product Manager) and knowing the promotional zero-tariff special was coming to an end soon, I would zero tariff it but keep a very close eye on abuse (people incorporating the free tariff into commercial, hardware solutions).
 
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Is it only me or does Vodacom's answer describe a situation where they can obscure the pricing under the banner of "simplifying it for our users?"

I.e. instead of using your cheap data for a "free" WhatsApp call they will charge more that data to bring it in line with their call rates, thereby "simplifying" it for the user ("WhatsApp calls are as cheap as your normal calls!")
 
Gatecrasher said:
I've lost count of the number of times this non-story has been regurgitated. And each time it is abundantly clear that they are not going to resurrect ancient tariffs or charge extra for voip data.
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Yes it has but we still don't have an answer why the tariffs were lodged. It could be as simple as them planning their own voip solutions or it could have been for more nefarious reasons. As long as the tariffs remain in force though people will keep bringing it up.

ebendl said:
Is it only me or does Vodacom's answer describe a situation where they can obscure the pricing under the banner of "simplifying it for our users?"

I.e. instead of using your cheap data for a "free" WhatsApp call they will charge more that data to bring it in line with their call rates, thereby "simplifying" it for the user ("WhatsApp calls are as cheap as your normal calls!")
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Yes they are. Whether it's intentional or not is the question.
 
Gatecrasher said:
I've lost count of the number of times this non-story has been regurgitated. And each time it is abundantly clear that they are not going to resurrect ancient tariffs or charge extra for voip data.
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The basic article is indeed nothing new, but the feedback is interesting. For example:

"Cell C said that it cannot comment at this stage on whether it will charge higher rates for VoIP data traffic." - will they make a deal with WhatsApp to charge for voice calls?

"Vodacom said the likely direction for the industry was that voice pricing will be common across all carriers." - will they charge for services (like voice, video etc) rather than just data in future?
 
MTN can say whatever they want to the media: The R25/Meg for VOIP clause is on every contract signed today.
 
I was at MTN in the early days of data and was responsible for inclusion of VoIP clauses in some of the contracts. VoIP has been on the radar for nearly 20 years now as a highly disruptive technology and no-one has known from year to year what business models would win out, so it was natural to think of ways to hedge one's bets. Any good business would do that.
 
lcbxx said:
MTN can say whatever they want to the media: The R25/Meg for VOIP clause is on every contract signed today.
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Well my main internet connection at home is Mtn uncapped and me and the wife use voip services constantly. I have NEVER been billed a extra cent for it. I take it Zello and Whatsapp voice notes falls under voip?
 
right so I'm not IT minded or in the industry so hopefully someone can clear this up for me :)

how can they detect voip for other traffic say a picture or txt. everything gets transmitted as 1's and 0's - not so?
 
Gatecrasher said:
I've lost count of the number of times this non-story has been regurgitated. And each time it is abundantly clear that they are not going to resurrect ancient tariffs or charge extra for voip data.
Click to expand...

And still no answer.

I look forward to this same article next month, without any answers.
 
spiff said:
right so I'm not IT minded or in the industry so hopefully someone can clear this up for me :)

how can they detect voip for other traffic say a picture or txt. everything gets transmitted as 1's and 0's - not so?
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Deep packet inspection, Google it.
ISP's have been utilizing this type of classification for torrents and other non-SSL traffic for years
 
01010101010101010101010101010101

Be it voip or http or ftp or whatever. Why have fuc king different rates if it's not PURE GREED
 
kianm said:
01010101010101010101010101010101

Be it voip or http or ftp or whatever. Why have fuc king different rates if it's not PURE GREED
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So surely the one calling will pay for Data usage and the one being called will also pay for data usage or how will this work? I know of some co-workers that have 200mb data pm contracts and will **** a brick if their data's being used for an incoming call.

The one calling, will of course not care or have this in mind. Now where in the past, people who made the call tried to hang up as quickly as possible, the person receiving the call will try to hang up as soon as possible. Or am I missing some data10111101package10010000voip10101110only01011001outgoing01011001crap
 
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