[WXC/VFX] Xnet price rise

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [WXC/VFX] Xnet price rise

johnsd

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#33658 8-May-2009 19:54

I have just received and email saying that our Fusion is going up from $69.95 to $89.95 since we are in a rural area.

I chose Xnet for the price - we live in the middle of Timaru so had no concept that we would be classed as "rural"!!

Is this for real - might be looking at another provider?

John

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#213555 8-May-2009 20:00

THats hell of a price hike - hope youre going to ask them why.

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sbiddle

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#213556 8-May-2009 20:03

The rural price has always been more. The commerce commission made clear determinations between rural and metropolitan areas when they drafted the ULL pricing. From memory the pricing was exactly (or very close) to $20 between metropolitan and rural areas.

My understanding is that up until very recently no ISP's were being charged the rural prices by Telecom and that everybody was paying metropolitan prices due to Telecom being unable to accurately determine between both types of users.

This has presumably now changed.

dilligaf

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#213557 8-May-2009 20:13

johnsd: I have just received and email saying that our Fusion is going up from $69.95 to $89.95 since we are in a rural area.

I chose Xnet for the price - we live in the middle of Timaru so had no concept that we would be classed as "rural"!!

Is this for real - might be looking at another provider?

John

Yes, its for Real, I am in Timaru also, However you could change to Telecoms new Home Package with 10 Gig full speed and unlimited free national calls for $109, few other benefits thrown in as well. Strange how we in Rural areas have to pay for Aucklands Roads, but Aucklanders pay less for their internet. ???? But......nobody said life should be fair.

johnsd

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#213558 8-May-2009 20:13

--- but Timaru city being classed as rural - we are right on the South Island fibre route!

sbiddle

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#213559 8-May-2009 20:23

johnsd: --- but Timaru city being classed as rural - we are right on the South Island fibre route!

Makes no difference.

Timaru is not classed as an urban exchange by the Commerce Commission. You need to take up your issue with them!

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#213563 8-May-2009 20:35

A list of all urban exchanges and pricing is available from the Telecom website

http://www.telecom.co.nz/binarys/ucll_price_list_610941_2.pdf

This is all governed by the Commerice Commission and not Telecom.

johnsd

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#213570 8-May-2009 20:59

I guess the thing that annoys me is that they tell me they warned me of this when I signed up. I know this is not the case since the $20 is the figure I was saving from my previous BB + telephone setup - there would have been little point in changing if that was the case.

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#213584 8-May-2009 22:17

dilligaf: Strange how we in Rural areas have to pay for Aucklands Roads, but Aucklanders pay less for their internet. ???? But......nobody said life should be fair.

Its strange how us Aucklanders have to pay for these roads to nowhere...

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#213601 9-May-2009 08:40

Wasn't addressing supposed to be an indication of who will be rural and who not, as in RD addresses would be a rough indication and discrepancies only on the town boundaries? I'm sure you are not the only one and XNet is not the only ISP affected, so it will soon be on Fair Go and Campbell Live. If ISPs get charged more for rural, then surely Telecom should also be charged more for rural now that they are split up.

Something is fishy. Comes just as Telecom is about to launch their new mobile network and people are getting excited about great offerings from Telecom.

(And trains going nowhere. And even though on the bus route with stops at my home and work, it cost around $5 per trip to go 3.5km to work Pakuranga to Mt Wellington!)

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sbiddle

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#213603 9-May-2009 08:56

Niel: Wasn't addressing supposed to be an indication of who will be rural and who not, as in RD addresses would be a rough indication and discrepancies only on the town boundaries? I'm sure you are not the only one and XNet is not the only ISP affected, so it will soon be on Fair Go and Campbell Live. If ISPs get charged more for rural, then surely Telecom should also be charged more for rural now that they are split up.

Telecom don't do ULL. The price difference only affects ULL circuits.

Remember by law Telecom aren't allowed to charge more for urban phonelines than they are for metropolitan ones. This was mandated to the Kiwi Share (now TSO). ULL is a totally different kettle of fish and the commerce commission have ruled that access to ULL circuits will be different based upon whether the line is rural or metropolitan and there is roughly (off the top of me head) a difference of around $18 or so between both which is what all ISP's have to pay Telecom.

I know a lot of people won't agree but personally I don't have an issue with this and believe that this should be how access should be charged. The reality is providing a phone service to residential users does cost more and there are unprofitable customers in rural areas which is why TSO obligiations are paid to Telecom by all other telcos.

While it may come as a shock because it's not being charged it is nothing new and has been well hammered out when the draft and final determinations were set for ULL back in 2007.

JayADee

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#213612 9-May-2009 09:55

Quote: "Telecom don't do ULL. The price difference only affects ULL circuits."

What does ULL mean?

And, does this new charge mean I may as well go back to phone plus internet?

Because the 20 dollar increase cancels out any financial advantage I got by going with phone over broadband plus net with xnet.

If I can get broadband plus phone for the same price as I am now getting both with xnet I may as well revert back to what I had. I was willing to put up with the occasional dropped phone link with xnet for a cheaper price but not if I am now paying the same amount and getting less reliable phone service.

Or am I going to get charged this extra 20 dollars even if I get off the internet phone?
I'm confused.

sbiddle

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#213640 9-May-2009 11:17

ULL = unbundled local loop.

Your Fusion line is a ULL circuit and is what is referred to as a naked ADSL connection. This means you are not paying Telecom for a landline connection but paying WxC just for broadband.

Because you're not paying Telecom for a landline somebody still has to pay for the use of the copper itself which is where the ULL charges come in (or MPF charges which is what Telecom call them). As I explained above there are different changes depending on whether you're a urban or rural user and these rates were set by the commerce commission.

Many rural users may find it's better value to have a Telecom landline and ADSL connection on top of this rather than a ULL ADSL connection such as Fusion due to the differences in MPF costs which typically cancel out any gains of being on a naked ADSL connection. It really just comes down to what your usage is.

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#213645 9-May-2009 11:56

sbiddle: ULL = unbundled local loop.

Many rural users may find it's better value to have a Telecom landline and ADSL connection on top of this rather than a ULL ADSL connection such as Fusion due to the differences in MPF costs which typically cancel out any gains of being on a naked ADSL connection. It really just comes down to what your usage is.

Well crap. Everytime I think I find a way to save a few bucks, someone else finds a way to get it back from me again. :(

Thanks for the info, sb.

dharmatraveller

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#213657 9-May-2009 13:38

Wonder why Slingshot does not have different rates for urban and rural? My VFX has gone up $20 in Taumarunui but a friend down the street with Slingshot on their Naked DSL plan($79.95 with 6GB) stays the same.

sbiddle

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#213659 9-May-2009 13:46

You can only assume that Slingshot have decided not to differentiate between rural and urban customers and lose money on rural customers.

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