TelkomInternet`s new DSL capping policy

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bekdik

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November 1 saw the introduction of a formal capping policy from our access provider SAIX (South Africa Internet eXchange). The new service allows for greater flexibility for the various ISP's (Internet Service Providers) and permits both hard capped or usage based options. TelkomInternet has elected the usage based option which is the most flexible model allowing TelkomInternet to provide an improved service to our subscribers.

So what does this mean to you, our valued subscriber? To the majority of our subscribers it will have very little impact. The introduction of an average usage based option means that a hard usage cap will not be enforced on the basic services until such time as the average usage per subscriber per product set reaches the 2, 3 or 4 GB allocated limits. At this point all services exceeding the product capping limits will be capped.

Regrettably, high end usage will no longer be possible in this new model and hard caps have been imposed to maintain a suitable service for all concerned. High-end users will be capped once this pre defined threshold is reached, irrespective of average usage. A hard cap will terminate the service until the beginning of the new month.

As one of our subscribers, you will find that the first improvement has been the removal of the soft cap. Access to our local gaming and entertainment servers has been upgraded as well.

Next year will see the introduction of a range of services for those subscribers that would prefer a stand alone usage based service. These services will start from as little as 1 GB for the entry level home user to unlimited pay-as-you-go options for the business market.

Any concerns or queries can be raised by replying to this mail or mail [email protected].

Regards
TelkomInternet ADSL team
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My bolded. Surely the limits being imposed need to be made public if they are de facto part of the new terms and conditions for the TelkomIntrernet service?
 
Here is their statement...
------ IF We (Telskum) cant milk everyone for everything they have, then we will change the conditions until we CAN milk everyone 100% -----

Telkom logo --- "Today, Tomorrow, go touch yourself"
 
"A hard usage cap will not be enforced on the basic services until such time as the average usage per subscriber per product set reaches the 2, 3 or 4 GB allocated limits."

This I understand, they find a nice point and don't cut people off until it starts to hurt the pre-determined bottom line.

But "Regrettably, high end usage will no longer be possible in this new model and hard caps have been imposed to maintain a suitable service for all concerned. High-end users will be capped once this pre defined threshold is reached, irrespective of average usage." confuses me.

Does it mean that there are two limits: the more than 3GB limit which kicks in at a higher limit, say 10GB. And an average system which kicks in when the whole group reaches their official average and everyone above the limit gets hard capped.

This still screws over the average user who might go over the limit on the last few days of the month. Get in early and you can get your 10GB but come late and you are going to get cut off at 3. Especially if they are not publicising the limits and the total usage people are going to be downloading in the dark.

Bring on the regulations.
 
Lost more than 40 customers this month thanks to Telkom.

I love how "equal" everything in the New South Africa is.

bekdik said:
My bolded. Surely the limits being imposed need to be made public if they are de facto part of the new terms and conditions for the TelkomIntrernet service?
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MrBEEP said:
Lost more than 40 customers this month thanks to Telkom.

I love how "equal" everything in the New South Africa is.
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That is disapointing. I did not think that people would be so fickle. Out of principal I will not go with TelkomInternet. I am staying with SAIX because of the peering issues at present but that is begrudgingly. In any first world country, what Telkom is doing would be deemed illegal.

Cheers

Dean
 
MrBEEP said:
Lost more than 40 customers this month thanks to Telkom.

I love how "equal" everything in the New South Africa is.
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I feel you pain, I've lost 23 clients to them. + 4 guys who canceled without any reasoning, I'm assuming they went with Telkomcr@ppyinternet too. :mad:

At least Telkom can't screw us on hosting.
 
and when I emailed as per:

Any concerns or queries can be raised by replying to this mail or mail [email protected].
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I got:

Hi. This is the qmail-send program at telkomsa.net.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.
Your message was bounced by our server.
If you have any other queries please contact our support:
TelkomInternet Support Desk Number: 08600 08700 TelkomInternet Support Desk Mail: [email protected]

<[email protected]>:
Sorry, no mailbox here by that name. (#5.1.1)
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This begins to look like something for ICASA or BCCSA to follow up on. :mad:
 
Surfing in the dark

So, basically using the internet for "heavy users" has become like playing russian roulette where we anxiously check everyday to see if we have been hard capped yet....:confused:

Happy new year anyways....
 
I hate Telkom as much as everyone else, and how they can force other ISP's to implement a hard cap, and not do so themselves is very unfair. But 2 or 3 gigs international bandwidth is just not enough for me. I signed with the devil last month, and will continue sticking with them until something better comes along.

I always go to where I can get the most gigs for my money, and unfortunetly its Telkom at the moment.
 
So they finally found a way to impose a cap on local traffic without obviously doing so. Gotta give them one thing: they are not dumb. Just greedy. But why I have to buy another account in order to top up escapes me. The top-up packages from @lantic and Imaginet seem to make more sense to me.
 
New usage policy from Telkom Internet

What the **** does this mean?

"TelkomInternet have opted to offer you an average usage option that will keep you online until such time that the average usage for all subscribers reaches the service threshold. This means that we are allowing unrestricted access beyond your threshold instead of simply curtailing the service. However, your service may be discontinued once the average usage for all subscribers has been reached. You will then be required to top-up your threshold to remain online."

Surely it implies that I may be cut off because another user has exceeded bandwidth even though I haven't. And if nobody exceeds bandwidth does this mean we all have unrestricted bandwidth?

Idiots at Telkom can't answer my question.
 
I interpret it as:

Up to my 3gigs usage I cannot be capped.

Once over 3gigs usage, once I reach the average of 1.4Gb (Telkoms figure for average usage) I will be capped. So I can never exceed 3Gb. :confused: :confused: :confused: :eek:
 
ssr said:
What the **** does this mean?

"TelkomInternet have opted to offer you an average usage option that will keep you online until such time that the average usage for all subscribers reaches the service threshold. This means that we are allowing unrestricted access beyond your threshold instead of simply curtailing the service. However, your service may be discontinued once the average usage for all subscribers has been reached. You will then be required to top-up your threshold to remain online."

Surely it implies that I may be cut off because another user has exceeded bandwidth even though I haven't. And if nobody exceeds bandwidth does this mean we all have unrestricted bandwidth?

Idiots at Telkom can't answer my question.
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where did you read that ???
 
bekdik said:
I interpret it as:

Up to my 3gigs usage I cannot be capped.

Once over 3gigs usage, once I reach the average of 1.4Gb (Telkoms figure for average usage) I will be capped. So I can never exceed 3Gb. :confused: :confused: :confused: :eek:
Click to expand...
Monthly Graph for December 2005
Downloaded : 30.3330 GB for the month
Uploaded : 17.5984 GB for the month
Total bandwidth used : 47.9315 GB for the month
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Yes you can.
 
ssr said:
What the **** does this mean?

"TelkomInternet have opted to offer you an average usage option that will keep you online until such time that the average usage for all subscribers reaches the service threshold. This means that we are allowing unrestricted access beyond your threshold instead of simply curtailing the service. However, your service may be discontinued once the average usage for all subscribers has been reached. You will then be required to top-up your threshold to remain online."

Surely it implies that I may be cut off because another user has exceeded bandwidth even though I haven't. And if nobody exceeds bandwidth does this mean we all have unrestricted bandwidth?

Idiots at Telkom can't answer my question.
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No it doesnt imply that at all. What it implies is that once the average has been reached for all users capping will be implimented for all users reaching or exceeding their cap.

As for unrestriced bandwidth if noone exceeds their cap:D Lets all stay within in our caps and see.
 
Nick333 said:
No it doesnt imply that at all. What it implies is that once the average has been reached for all users capping will be implimented for all users reaching or exceeding their cap.

As for unrestriced bandwidth if noone exceeds their cap:D Lets all stay within in our caps and see.
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And according to Mr White, the average usage is 1.4Gb, so once you each your cap you are ******ed. Clever.
 
If Telkom is infact pooling thier bandwidth, then it would be difficult to reach threshold...

The following figures are speculation and educated guesses:

TelkomSA has +/- 60000 subscribers (half of the ADSL subscriber base)
Each user is allocated 3GB
Thus the total pool is: 180,000 GB
Average usage is 1.4GB per user: 84,000 GB
Thus there is: 96,000 GB left in the pool to split between users that use more than 1.4GB.

The usage Threshold is the point at which Telkom can offer all it's users the remainder of their 3GB cap; it's a simple algorythm.
 
anyone used the telkominternet online account registration by the way? I am tempted to register one account to download some stuff ... is it complete registration? do I get username and password at the end (which I can use immediatelly) if I select billing through telkom invoice?

also where do I get the cancellation policies as I am not planing to keep the account for more than a month or two
 
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