Internet!!!!!!!!!!!!

[insulin]

In any event the Internet is becoming more and more a tool but for most of us it is still just a toy. A fancy toy that cost a lot of money. Recently my friend got himself a 3g contract with our most illustrious communications company in South Africa to date; Vodacom.

It was fast to sign up and he got most of his stuff working within the hour. However after 3 months he requested that his cap be set on an amount so that it doesn’t go over that amount per month. They said everything was fine and he will be cut-off if he goes over his set cap with about a R100 or so.

Not bad! But then darkness gloomed over my friends face and he was as pale as if someone drained him from all his blood. He informed me that his bill was over R2000. Now according to Vodacom there was something suspect! And they will investigate!

However the R2000 + was taken from his account. Now one can argue and say “Yes he was careless!” I answer: If someone took time from his work to setup a set cap on his internet and has the responsibility to it properly how can you deem such a person careless?

So! Now my reason for posting this letter is to ask you... Did something like this ever happened to you or is it an isolated case?

Thank you for reading

[Dave A]

The billing rates on out-of-bundle bandwidth is criminal. Unless he did that on in-bundle rates

What actually went wrong?

[SilverNodashi]

This is just a quick warning, Vodacom / MTN / Cell-C won't cutt off your internet access if you reach your CAP, they simply charge out of bundle rates. Try explain an R4800 bill to your wife at the end of the month It happend to my friend a few times. And, since it's so quick (compared to dialup), one tends todo a lot more in the same time span, and quickly uses a lot of bandwidth.

I have said it before, and will say it again, 3G is EXPENSIVE, very very EXPENSIVE. Get ADSL instead, you pay like 7c per MB, and maybe 10c when you go over your initial CAP.

[insulin]

Internet!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes indeed what did go wrong? In essence there is more to it than just a cap. The fact is that my friend had a few problems when it came to his billing. The fact is that Vodacom cannot justify the massif amounts but they do... They say “something is wrong and that they will investigate” Then you still end up paying the amount! So we are planning on contacting the consumer counsel. Hopefully they will investigate.

[insulin]

The internet!!!! Continued:

Ah yes!! The monster that you pay for... Let us just say that the consumer council will benefit allot with training. Secondly: quote: “with great power come great responsibilities” Vodacom is a real supper power in this country. But it is not my intention to scare anyone however it is true and I stand to be corrected on this: Vodacom has the legal ability to take large amounts of your money. Also I stand to be corrected but this is how they do it with the 3g: First of your cap is not a fix-cap that will cut you off. No while you are on the internet it will allow you to download as much as possible because when you are done THEN and only THEN does it do it’s calculation thus you will go over your cap if you don’t monitor it closely and I do mean CLOSELY! My only other suggestion is: Use the 3g-net in moderation and completely disconnects it ever 30 minutes. Unplug it from your system! Better yet get the 3g modem cash and only use pre-paid data bundles.

[Dave A]

Vodacom 3g does send you SMS messages to tell you how you are going. I've noticed I get an SMS at 50% and 80% of my bundle. I've never pushed it further than that, so I don't know if there are more system generated messages beyond this point.

[twinscythe12332]

normally you get something along the lines of a bundle has been depleted, out of bundle rates apply message. I have a few questions:
1) does your mate know the associated amount of MB that 100 bucks should give you?
2) does he download large files on a regular basis.

the thing is, out of bundle rates, it's 2 rand a meg. so you download a gigabyte file ( 1 gb = 1024MB) and you easily clock in 2 grand.

[insulin]

The internet continued: The truth!!!

To answer: Yes my friend is aware of the cost when it goes out of bundle. And yes the 80% SMS is a clear indicator. I cannot argue that these are the facts. Now that we understand how the set-cap work, it comes down to this it is actually your fault! Or is it? I mean when is too much TOO MUCH? When will the system stop you from downloading continues data streams or large files.

In the end of the day it appears and again I stand to be corrected that you can download indefinitely. Thus you will end up with R2 per 1MB a DVD of data will cost you R8000.

Still a credit check was done when you applied for the contract. Vodacom knows what you CAN and CANNOT afford. You can afford R800 per month but you are paying regardless of the credit check about R2000 to R3000 over!!!!

So it is true when you download large files it is your doing. But the way the cap functions is NOT your doing. The fact that there might not be limitations to what you can go over; IS ALSO NOT YOUR DOING. You have no control over these two aspects. What then was the use of the credit check in the first place if they can still take from you MORE then what you CAN afford! and Vodacom knows what that amount is.

Point plank it is your fault to go over your set amount because there is systems that warn you. BUT the amount that it goes over is not regulated or so it seems so they can take from you an amount knowing you could not afford that mount in the first place.

What then is the purpose of set-caps, credit checks also known as “Affordability Control” if they had no intention to stop you from going over.

Think about...

[Dave A]

I question the out-of-bundle rate. How does Vodacom justify the huge difference between in-bundle and out-of-bundle rates?

[SilverNodashi]

Dave, do you really think they offer this is a valued service? The general South African is too ignorant to even know all the terminology used when it comes to anything IT / technical / internet related, and the only thing that really "talks" is the price on the TV ad.

So, this is just another way for Vodacom to make an extra buck.

[twinscythe12332]

vodacom is just doing what alot of other companies do. find a flaw in the system and use that flaw to their advantage.

there are 2 major networks in this field, both are local. doesn't this sound a bit messed up? cell c, and virgin mobile are jokes, because cell c piggy backs off vodacom (70 % of traffic through vodacom), and virgin piggy backs off cell c.

then of course there is telkom, who own the cables so far.

it would be nice to see some sort of board look into this (considering bandwidth in america is practically free), we are third world, I can understand that, but we shouldn't be raped for it.

[insulin]

The Internet continued: The flaw of the net.

I agree about allot of things, however it is true that licensing of any large telecommunications group is owned indirectly by the state. Via it be licensing or using Telkom as a backbone. The sad thing is by holding the internet ransom will hindering the growth in the digital consumers market. Everything comes at a price. Greed’s victim is the poor. Point is nothing we do will change their minds... unless all South Africans magically decides to turn their mobile phones off for a view days. Trust me the amount of money they will lose will be substantial when it comes to the contact user. But these companies are anything but stupid! Thanks to prepay these companies already received their money so switching your phone of is not going to do anything! Brilliant is not. Sadly the only way I can see change is if the government passes a law to regulate the system. That will not happen because money is money...

[Loman]

I have a E270 MTN 3G modem and the software that helps to keep track of your usage(although its not correct to the mb) is checking the internet for a update every two seconds. What a way for mtn to make money. Luckily i managed to switch it off, but not soon enough.

[insulin]

The internet: Free the megabyte campaign.

As I stated before the internet is being held ransom by the large companies thus we the user suffer dearly. Bills we cannot pay. Then there is the internet consumers market that suffers because people cannot utilize the net because there are just too many hidden traps that will cripple them fanatically so the internet remains a close door to many.

However I see there is a lot of clever people in this forum. Why not demand that a new law be drafted that will force the internet providers and owners of the data systems to comply with a standardized structure similar to the one we find in petroleum. This will allow for a fair system that might be inexpensive however our government is not known for making bright decisions so I cannot say if this will be a good thing or not.

[Dave A]

Why not demand that a new law be drafted that will force the internet providers and owners of the data systems to comply with a standardized structure similar to the one we find in petroleum.

That's really the main thrust of Mybroadband.

That said, do we really want to see something like the petroleum structure put in? How competitive is the local petroleum industry really?