Changing my Cable Plan and what happens when Fibre arrives.

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DeepBlueSky

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#180971 28-Sep-2015 13:03

Hi Guys,
I have been using cable for a more than a couple years; currently I'm on the grandfathered 130Mb plan that I haven't been getting the benefit of for awhile now. I know I can get a much cheaper 100Mb plan, but don't want to be locked in again for another year with fibre getting very close. I may stay with cable but would like the option to change if wish too, a friend who lives down the road and now has fibre was told he could not be changed from cable to fibre by Vodafone as there is cable in the area that this would force him to change suppliers, I don't know if is the whole story but I would like to know if this is true.

1. Bottom line can I change plans without being locked into another 12 month contract.

2. When fibre arrives, do I have the option of moving to a fibre Vodafone plan.

Brumfondl

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#1395730 28-Sep-2015 13:18

1) No sure, but as you don't need any new equipment you should be able to ask to change plans without a contract.
2) Vodafone do not offer Fibre to customers in Cable areas. You would need to change provider.

chiefie

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#1395736 28-Sep-2015 13:28

Brumfondl: 1) No sure, but as you don't need any new equipment you should be able to ask to change plans without a contract.
2) Vodafone do not offer Fibre to customers in Cable areas. You would need to change provider.

Ditto to #2. I asked it and Vodafone Cable is considered part of UFB, and Vodafone would prefer to sell that connection to your if you want to continue with cable, over the fibre service.

I was asking that question when my street been fibred. However I'm happy being on cable and awaiting for the cable upgrade to finish. I just wish/hope that the new DOCSIS 3.0 modem can be "bridge"!!!

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DeepBlueSky

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#1395750 28-Sep-2015 13:30

Thanks Brumfondl for confirming the Vodafone will not offer Fibre in Cable areas that's a bummer and now I need to know if I can swap plans without being hit with a 12month contract. The reason I asked this is when I moved to the 130Mb plan I was told I had to lock in for another 12months this wasn't a problem then as fibre was not an option but I would like to keep the contract open now.

r2b2

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#1395752 28-Sep-2015 13:35

chiefie:
Brumfondl: 1) No sure, but as you don't need any new equipment you should be able to ask to change plans without a contract.
2) Vodafone do not offer Fibre to customers in Cable areas. You would need to change provider.

Ditto to #2. I asked it and Vodafone Cable is considered part of UFB, and Vodafone would prefer to sell that connection to your if you want to continue with cable, over the fibre service.

I was asking that question when my street been fibred. However I'm happy being on cable and awaiting for the cable upgrade to finish. I just wish/hope that the new DOCSIS 3.0 modem can be "bridge"!!!

Its interesting that they class Cable as equivalent to Fibre - if that was true wouldn't one expect that all the speed plans that you can get on Fibre would be available on Cable?

chiefie

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#1395753 28-Sep-2015 13:35

DeepBlueSky: Thanks Brumfondl for confirming the Vodafone will not offer Fibre in Cable areas that's a bummer and now I need to know if I can swap plans without being hit with a 12month contract. The reason I asked this is when I moved to the 130Mb plan I was told I had to lock in for another 12months this wasn't a problem then as fibre was not an option but I would like to keep the contract open now.

If you are looking to swap ISP for fibre, then yeah it's always the risk of being locked in to 12 months terms. However I'm confident enough to think that cable will still be great if not on par with fibre when Vodafone is done with cable upgrade. We'll wait to see.

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Brumfondl

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#1395755 28-Sep-2015 13:44

DeepBlueSky: Thanks Brumfondl for confirming the Vodafone will not offer Fibre in Cable areas that's a bummer and now I need to know if I can swap plans without being hit with a 12month contract. The reason I asked this is when I moved to the 130Mb plan I was told I had to lock in for another 12months this wasn't a problem then as fibre was not an option but I would like to keep the contract open now.

When the Unlimited plans came out last year I managed to move to one without incurring a contract. If you call them up just say you don't want one and they should put you through to someone who can approve it.

Personally I would wait and see how things are once the upgrade to the system is complete and then decide if you want to drop down to 100Mbit or not.

DeepBlueSky

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#1395762 28-Sep-2015 13:53

I'm happy with Cable if the when all the upgrades are completed I'm hoping it will be great, along with the above the other issue is that I have never found international bandwidth to the other side of the world ever going over a 100Mb or even close using speed tests (taking Australia out of the loop). I could use the savings on the Cable costs to subscribe to content providers etc.

If I don't get hip with a 12month contract I would be happy to drop to 100Mb with Vodafone.

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chiefie

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#1395764 28-Sep-2015 13:59

DeepBlueSky: I'm happy with Cable if the when all the upgrades are completed I'm hoping it will be great, along with the above the other issue is that I have never found international bandwidth to the other side of the world ever going over a 100Mb or even close using speed tests (taking Australia out of the loop). I could use the savings on the Cable costs to subscribe to content providers etc.

If I don't get hip with a 12month contract I would be happy to drop to 100Mb with Vodafone.

In all honesty, if you foresee yourself going to be moving home or something in next 6 months, 12 months terms fly-by very quickly. I signed on to new 100mbps/20mbps naked cable with vodafone tv in Dec 2014 and it's soon be over this Dec. It gave me great savings.

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DeepBlueSky

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#1397377 30-Sep-2015 14:45

Swapped plans, to the 100Mb which is fine for me saving $30 dollars a month. As I'm off contract I asked to not go back onto another 12 month contract to keep my options open just encase the cable issues are not resolved, took a bit of negotiation but I got there, he said no worries in the end plus I got two months free.

They have good guys in the team and one happy customer.

Now I can redistribute some of those savings into providing more streaming content.

DeepBlueSky

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#1397378 30-Sep-2015 14:46

Should add didn't phone I used the online chat facility.

sidefx

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#1397386 30-Sep-2015 14:57

chiefie:
If you are looking to swap ISP for fibre, then yeah it's always the risk of being locked in to 12 months terms. However I'm confident enough to think that cable will still be great if not on par with fibre when Vodafone is done with cable upgrade. We'll wait to see.

Being locked into a single provider would never seem like a good idea to me. At some point in the future won't the subsidised UFB installs come to an end? (I'm still not clear when though... last official mention just says "until at least 2015"?) When\if that does happen I'd think anyone who's chosen to stick with cable and not have UFB installed (or worse hasn't realised that cable != UFB) will be kicking themselves...

EDIT: Just edited to clarify that I have no issue with being locked into a 12 month contract, my first sentence refers to being locked into cable permanently if you choose to stick with it and never get UFB installed, if they do end subsidised UFB installs as some point.

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sidefx

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#1397440 30-Sep-2015 16:48

Also somewhat interesting that Vodafone is not offering UFB in cable areas; I guess they changed their mind from last year? At that time their CEO said:

In the event his proposal was rejected, Vodafone would continue to maintain and run the cable networks and "eventually there will be a competing UFB network", Stanners said prior to Adams' rebuttal. The company would not proactively migrate cable customers to fibre in that scenario though they had the option of buying it from any retailer, including Vodafone, he said.

Which by my reading seemed to suggest at the time that customers would be able to buy UFB from them if they wanted to; from here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/30020945/govt-rejects-vodafone-ufb-plea

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Hammerer

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#1397509 30-Sep-2015 18:47

I wouldn't worry about signing up for another year even if UFB is near. A later decision will still be a simple cost-benefit analysis. So I would take a saving of $30 a month versus having to, maybe, pay a break fee at some later date.

Anyway, I can't imagine staying with Vodafone cable when UFB is available. While Vodafone have chewed up most of the goodwill they've built up over many years, the decision to move will be primarily technical because the benefit from more symmetrical upload speeds is too good to pass up. It has become much more important the more that my data is cloud-based and I don't expect that to change in the next year or so.

chiefie

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#1397516 30-Sep-2015 19:03

Hammerer: I wouldn't worry about signing up for another year even if UFB is near. A later decision will still be a simple cost-benefit analysis. So I would take a saving of $30 a month versus having to, maybe, pay a break fee at some later date.

Anyway, I can't imagine staying with Vodafone cable when UFB is available. While Vodafone have chewed up most of the goodwill they've built up over many years, the decision to move will be primarily technical because the benefit from more symmetrical upload speeds is too good to pass up. It has become much more important the more that my data is cloud-based and I don't expect that to change in the next year or so.

Good thing I don't do much uploading.

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