[WXC/VFX] Involuntary change of plans

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ajhphd

37 posts

Geek

#22498 29-May-2008 18:58

One months notice of enforced change of plans. I like my free national traffic, and I don't always use my 10GB quota of international traffic, so not really happy :-(

I guess I'm an idealist in thinking data transfer should/could/was "free" within NZ.

I'm unsure of what happens if I don't do anything, will my ADSL be switched off? and my VFX?

From: WorldxChange Communications xnet.co.nz>

To: XXX@vodafone.net.nz

Subject: Announcement: Changes to your Broadband Plan

Message-Id: <20080529022235.E3E17464851@oberon.wxnz.net>

Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 14:22:35 +1200 (NZST)

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Dear XXX,

Last year Xnet launched a series of new broadband plans called HSI Stream, HSI River and HSI Flood. The pricing comes in two parts:

- An Access charge for each

- A standardised Usage charge per megabyte

With Internet usage profiles changing, Xnet are now launching a new Usage price option.

Customers can continue to pay $1.02 per Gigabyte 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with their chosen access: or they can opt for a new usage price where you pay $1.54 per Gigabyte from 8am to midnight (which is the peak period) and from midnight to 8am you can download up to 75 GB per calender month data free of charge.

The new option will appeal to heavy internet users who wish to download their content at night and use it at their leisure. Customers who download more than 75 Gigabytes per calender month will then be charged $2.56 per Gigabyte for all off-peak traffic over that amount.

The reason you are receiving this correspondence is to notify you that the old Xnet broadband plans offering free national traffic which include Xnet Xpress, Xtreme, Xstream Lite, Xtream Plus and Xtream HSI will be discontinued. This being the case we would like to give you plenty of time to decide which new Xnet product you would like to move to. For many, the new plans on offer will actually save you money.

Your current Xnet broadband plan will not operate after 30 June 2008. You can quickly choose and set up your new plan before then without any service interruption by visiting www.xnet.co.nz/accounts, or by visiting www.xnet.co.nz, navigating to My Stuff and logging into the Customer Account Manager - where your Account Manager Portal resides.

Your login (username@xnet.co.nz) and password for the Account Manager were sent to you when you joined Xnet. If you have forgotten or lost your login name and password, you can call our helpdesk on 0800 14 XNET (0800 14 9638).

Again, please remember to choose a new plan that is right for you. Your plan can be changed at any time. Your current service will not operate after midnight June 30th 2008.

Best regards

The Team @ Xnet

itey

476 posts

Ultimate Geek

#134245 29-May-2008 19:52

to be fair, the free national plans were droped over 18 months ago (afaik ?). You had to see this coming? Being on a discontinued plan for 18 months is already very generous.

ajhphd

37 posts

Geek

#134257 29-May-2008 20:40

I have been number crunching my data usage since joining mid-August 2006. (data retrieved from online accounts site)

Total local data = 3,233 MB
Total national data = 38,431 MB
Total international data = 170,754 MB
Total national and international data = 209,185 MB

Total months with Xnet = 21.5

Total fees paid = 21.5 months * 42.95 $/month = $923.43 (actually slightly less as I was receiving 2% discount for direct debit for a few months)

If I had been on River plan for same period..
Monthly fee = 21.5 months * 33.95 $/month = $729.93
Data charges (national + international) = 209,185 MB * 0.001024 $/MB = $214.21
Total would have been = $729.93 + $214.21 = $944.14

So, everything else being equal I pay approx $20 extra over 21 months ($944.14 - $923.43). Not cheaper as email suggests, "For many, the new plans on offer will actually save you money." I am obviously one of the few, but then again I've always been special ;-)

$20 over 21 months is pretty much negligible these days so not too concerned from a financial point of view. Time to find something more valuable to worry about. :-)

NB The other "improvement" I get by changing to a new plan is "full speed down" which is of no use to me as the modem has never connected at a rate faster than 1000 kbps hence why I was on the 2Mbit down plan. (too far from the exchange)

sbiddle

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#134262 29-May-2008 20:51

Why is unlimited national data such a big issue for you?

The reason they had to pull the plug on this 18 or so months ago was because of the people abusing it.

ajhphd

37 posts

Geek

#134269 29-May-2008 21:16

Unlimited national data is not really that important, (post was a quick reaction to the email...)

But, I would equate free NZ traffic to free local calling on the landline. (probably a very outdated mode of thinking)

Basically I liked knowing that the cost each month was fixed at $42.95 (pick any number), but I do realise the world is changing quickly, especially in telecommunications, and that will mean more frequent changes in how services are charged.

Off topic but have I told anyone how my university implements data charges?

The going rate is $0.035 +GST per MB for any data in and out of campus network. ($39.38 $/GB) (i'm certainly glad that Xnet don't charge out at this rate, although the first GB per month is close)

The amount of data is calculated HOURLY. Any charge is rounded up to the nearest cent.

From a few days ago....reverse chronological order
Time Disbursment Value Count Acct./Bal. Narration
2008-05-23 16:15:28 ITSPROXY $0.02 426083 $0.80 ITS proxy: 15:00 - 15:59, 23/05/2008
2008-05-23 15:14:27 ITSPROXY $0.04 1062754 $0.82 ITS proxy: 14:00 - 14:59, 23/05/2008
2008-05-23 14:16:03 ITSPROXY $0.05 1269678 $0.86 ITS proxy: 13:00 - 13:59, 23/05/2008
2008-05-23 13:16:55 ITSPROXY $0.01 42240 $0.91 ITS proxy: 12:00 - 12:59, 23/05/2008
2008-05-23 12:15:14 ITSPROXY $0.01 176055 $0.92 ITS proxy: 11:00 - 11:59, 23/05/2008
2008-05-23 11:14:09 ITSPROXY $0.01 26270 $0.93 ITS proxy: 10:00 - 10:59, 23/05/2008
2008-05-23 10:11:46 ITSPROXY $0.02 442140 $0.94 ITS proxy: 09:00 - 09:59, 23/05/2008
2008-05-23 07:01:45 ITSPROXY $0.03 636830 $0.96 ITS proxy: 06:00 - 06:59, 23/05/2008

cokemaster

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#134280 29-May-2008 22:05

sbiddle:
Why is unlimited national data such a big issue for you?

The reason they had to pull the plug on this 18 or so months ago was because of the people abusing it.

Exactly.

I think you'll find that in most providers terms and conditions, they have wording that allows them to withdraw the plan/pricing/service if they give notice.

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PenultimateHop

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#134283 29-May-2008 22:25

ajhphd: So, everything else being equal I pay approx $20 extra over 21 months ($944.14 - $923.43). Not cheaper as email suggests, "For many, the new plans on offer will actually save you money." I am obviously one of the few, but then again I've always been special ;-)

But did you factor into your $944.14 how much of that data would not have been charged for in the offpeak times, if you were to take the new 'leech happy' plans? It would seem that if even 10% of your traffic was off peak, your total cost would be about equal ($922.71) between the old and new plans.

Their statement does seem accurate for you, since surely SOME of your traffic has to have been off-peak. Their statement also says "For many", not "for all". :)

frio

80 posts

Master Geek

#134292 29-May-2008 22:52

Unfortunately, yours is the one plan that has the potential to cost more (in the order of $1 a month, which matches your math :D). People on other plans like Xtream Plus and Xtream HSI stand to save $10-$20 a month, providing they don't slaughter national traffic :).

With respect to the comment that you liked the fixed price, that's understandable. The way the new charging works (if you hit automatically upgrade, that is!), it's a maximum of $43.95 if you have your cap at 10,000MiB - so there's still a maximum cap, with a potential saving if you do less than the 10GB allotment (which you can, of course, change at any time to suit your needs). Or, of course, a potential saving if you do over the 10GB allotment, because it's $1 per GB as opposed to blocks of 5GB for $10!

Hopefully once you get to have a play around on the new plans you'll find you don't mind them, but I can certainly understand people not wanting to change.

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kaway

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#134387 30-May-2008 11:03

ajhphd: But, I would equate free NZ traffic to free local calling on the landline. (probably a very outdated mode of thinking)

Note difference between "free LOCAL calling" and "free NATIONAL calling".
"free local traffic" vs "free national/NZ traffic"

ajhphd: I'm unsure of what happens if I don't do anything, will my ADSL be switched off? and my VFX?

quote from the email you posted: "Your current service will not operate after midnight June 30th 2008.". your VFX wont work if you dont have internet, so even if its only your old ADSL plan thats terminated you wont have a working VFX. safe to assume its referring to both.

ajhphd: So, everything else being equal I pay approx $20 extra over 21 months ($944.14 - $923.43)

cup half full view: I paid approx $20 LESS over the last 21 months

Niel

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#134521 30-May-2008 20:56

$20 more over 21 months and you use about 9.5GB per month. If you use 8.5GB per month, then you will be paying exactly the same as you did before. From a recent thread about how much people use, the vast majority use less than 5GB per month so most people will definately pay less on the new plans.

Not sure howcome they are discontinuing the old plans if the old plans bring in more money, guess once again there are people abusing it and/or they do not want so support orphan plans and train staff that they exist.

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grant_k

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#134539 30-May-2008 22:53

Niel: Not sure howcome they are discontinuing the old plans if the old plans bring in more money, guess once again there are people abusing it and/or they do not want so support orphan plans and train staff that they exist.

I have it on good authority that this has happened as a result of Telecom pulling the plug on the old 2Mbps/128kbps virtual circuits. I guess the demand for this standard of service would be minimal in these days of FS/128kbps plans. However, when I signed up more than 3 years ago, it was the best-value offering in the market and has suited us just fine until now

Dratsab

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#134541 31-May-2008 00:12

ajhphd: So, everything else being equal I pay approx $20 extra over 21 months ($944.14 - $923.43). Not cheaper as email suggests, "For many, the new plans on offer will actually save you money." I am obviously one of the few, but then again I've always been special ;-)

The basic problem with your math is that it assumes you are paying fo everything. What would you pay if you managed your downloads and took as much advantage as possible of the free period from 12am to 8am?

grant_k:
Niel: Not sure howcome they are discontinuing the old plans if the old plans bring in more money, guess once again there are people abusing it and/or they do not want so support orphan plans and train staff that they exist.

I have it on good authority that this has happened as a result of Telecom pulling the plug on the old 2Mbps/128kbps virtual circuits. I guess the demand for this standard of service would be minimal in these days of FS/128kbps plans. However, when I signed up more than 3 years ago, it was the best-value offering in the market and has suited us just fine until now

I would imagine it's probably also aimed at trying to ease the current traffic congestion being experienced during peak times. Encouraging some of the heavier downloaders to manage the times at which they download should have obvious benfits for all...

Numerous comments have been posted here about how Xnet speeds slow down in the evening then start picking up again after midnight, so it makes sense for them to try and get as many downloaders as possible to move their downloading to after this time period. Perhaps Maverick can step in and add some clarification?