re: best data plans for mobiles?

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Kilack

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#63540 29-Jun-2010 13:54

Hi,

I just got a new samsung galaxy, beautiful phone by the way...
Anyway as I had to order it in from overseas I am obviously looking for the best deal for data...

I have looked at the data plans and they seem to be still costly with vodafone..
10 dollars for 100 megs which obviously you can go through in a matter of minutes these days then its like a meg per dollar, compared with a gig per dollar on adsl... ouch

So anyway it seems the best thing to do is buy an iphone on plan, then sell the iphone on trademe straight away as brand new and use the plan from that which would give basically all the money back for the outright cost of the phone and maybe some extra....

Is that what people are doing? I wish I had done it when they had the 3 gig per month promotion on the iphone plans...

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#346359 29-Jun-2010 14:05

I think that's one of the downsides at present in NZ with mobile data. Utilise wifi as much as you can. Or, sign up to a mobile data plan and slot that SIM card into your phone. However, you must remember not to make any calls on it as it would cost you a leg!

Kilack

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#346361 29-Jun-2010 14:11

I actually just noticed the smart plans... they have a 3 gig promotion until 1st of July 2010.. (not much use now hehe)

If the 3 gigs was part of the plan and not just a part time thing they would be good plans.

I cant believe mobile data is 1000 times more expensive than on adsl.

Maybe running a mobile network is more expensive etc but it surely can't be that much more expensive hehe

I think I will go the iphone route which will still give me the same data as the smart plans (250 megs) but I should be able to get a profit off the iphone going by selling prices currently on trademe...

seems pretty bizzare to have to do things like this to try and get decent data in nz...

Handsomedan

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#346363 29-Jun-2010 14:12

I agree that something needs to be done about the lack of cheaply available internet on mobile devices. As you say, it's easy to throw away a few hundred megs in a day, so 100mb at $10 is pretty ordinary.

I think the iPhone plan idea is a good one, especially as you can still sell the iPhone at a fairly high price.

My advice, though, would be to do it now, as otherwise you could be stuck with it for a while (with the iPhone 4 coming, 3GS's are going to be a little less desirable).

Good luck.

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quickymart

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#346450 29-Jun-2010 19:23

Remember, it's not really fair to compare mobile data with landline-based ADSL - the delivery costs for mobile data are far, far higher. Also the landlines have been around for a long time, whereas mobile networks are still (relatively-ish) new by comparison.

Kilack

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#346457 29-Jun-2010 19:41

quickymart: Remember, it's not really fair to compare mobile data with landline-based ADSL - the delivery costs for mobile data are far, far higher. Also the landlines have been around for a long time, whereas mobile networks are still (relatively-ish) new by comparison.

I said that I am sure the costs are higher, I just don't believe they are 1,000 times higher which is what is being charged currently. The fact is with smart phones dropping massively in price demand for internet on mobile is going to rocket but paying a dollar per meg which is like sending one photo these days is bordering on rediculous isn't it?

heavenlywild

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#346458 29-Jun-2010 19:42

I reckon as long as you stay away from YouTube and online multimedia you shouldn't need too much data on your mobile. Although I wouldn't mind more allowance:)

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kyhwana2

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#346509 29-Jun-2010 22:07

Well, i've used 60MB since the 15th (that's when my addon renews) on vodafones 100MB prepay addon. Don't know if i'll be able to keep it under 100MB now :(
(had my HTC Desire since the 12th or so..)

dasimpsonsrule

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#346511 29-Jun-2010 22:13

Let's see what happens when 2degrees launches their 3g network. Things could start to get interesting...

heavenlywild

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#346534 29-Jun-2010 23:24

dasimpsonsrule: Let's see what happens when 2degrees launches their 3g network. Things could start to get interesting...

Yes bring on more competition I say!

1eStar

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#346566 30-Jun-2010 08:21

Don't Voda have a 512MB for $30 deal?
Not sure if or how you can add it to a talk plan tho.

old3eyes

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#346567 30-Jun-2010 08:35

heavenlywild:
dasimpsonsrule: Let's see what happens when 2degrees launches their 3g network. Things could start to get interesting...

Yes bring on more competition I say!

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kyhwana2

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#346583 30-Jun-2010 09:53

1eStar: Don't Voda have a 512MB for $30 deal?

Not sure if or how you can add it to a talk plan tho.

I know they do for Prepay, I might end up switching to it :| although I probably won't use more than 200-300MB.

Why can't they have a data (12month/term free!) contract plan that is like a normal DSL connection, ie they charge per MB (Say, $30/512MB == $0.06 per MB.) and then send you the bill for ever much you used at the end of the month. I'd sign up for that, at those prices!

(But that'll never happen, because none of the telecos will actually do anything that gives you value for money)

If they can offer 512MB for $30, then surely they could do $0.06 per MB. That sounds like a fair price to me, if you charge per MB.

sonmica

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#346740 30-Jun-2010 18:04

I've been looking at vodafone plans since before my HTC phone arrived (near the start of June) to try to find something that would suit me better. My plan at the time lacked a lot of things that i needed and had a lot of things that i didn't use much or at all (I have since cancelled this plan).

I was on a starter 2000 plan (the term ended last November).

I had a bit of fudged up BBLite added to it (fudged up because it was added some wierd way instead of as an addon, so it doesn't show up as an addon on my vodafone account page) but I blew through the 100mb the past couple of months (last month it was ~250mb) and so was paying casual rates on top of it. Also I only used about 4%-10% of the included txt2000 and didn't use the bestmate addon at all.

So I realised that I needed a plan that would better suit my needs:
- primarily data
- i do use call minutes when i have them, but will be okay without any
- need some text but would prefer text to other networks as i text about 50/50 vodafone/telecom+2deg. i never use up the 2000 texts to vodafone numbers that came with my plan, but i can at least use up the 50 or so texts that would give the bundle value over not having any text bundle
- also I may be going overseas within the next year so would prefer not to be tied to a contract

I looked at the broadband plans and found 3 main options for me:

BroadBand Connect/Super
http://www.vodafone.co.nz/shop/plansMobileInternet.jsp?plantype=data&menuKey=mnit600004&_requestid=229761
Pros:
512mb, 2gb, 4gb data usage
no term, 12 month, and 24 month contracts
double data if you go over the usage
Cons:
You cannot add on-account addons to it (ie call/text bundles)
No subsidised phones

Smart Plans (which actually look very similar to the iPhone plans)
http://www.vodafone.co.nz/shop/plansOnAccount.jsp?plantype=mobile&billingMethod=onAccount&planSegment=consumer&productGroupItemId=grp74400002&menuKey=mnit1400020
Pros:
call and text bundles included in the plan
subsidised phones
text bundles are not network specific (ie not just for texting to vodafone numbers)
Cons:
each MB over the included amount costs $0.10 (no double data)
data usage is not as high, ranges from 250mb ~ 500mb
24 month term contract only

Supa Prepay - Broadband Surfer Addon (512mb for $30)
http://www.vodafone.co.nz/shop/mobileInternetDetails.jsp?skuId=sku5850074&selectionKey=internet
I was told by a rep that this is available on SPP without having to have the vodem.
Pros:
prepay - no term
512mb
flexible
can also go down to BBLite (100mb, which can be double-data'ed) if it's too much
can repurchase the addon if you run out (if i understand it correctly)
Cons:
no billing breakdown (maybe just a personal thing)
only network specific text bundle (vf to vf only on txt 2000)
no call bundles at all

For the meantime, I cancelled my previous plan and switched to Supa Prepay with the BBLite addon ($10 for 100mb) to see how my usage pans out ... it's been 3 days and I've used up 50mb (i use wifi when i get home). I don't stream videos/music, but i do have my work email and personal email sync'ed, as well as friendstream (basically twitter + fb). I visit websites fairly often but not excessively. I use maps and gps services quite rarely. Also in the three days, without a text bundle, I've spent about $10 on texts.

The good thing about prepay is that I can use this month to evaluate my usage and maybe jump on one of the other plans if it seems better.

I think I could probably live with the 250mb Smart Phone plan, if it wasn't for the 24 month contract term. I may be going overseas in 6 months, so if I went on that plan then cancelled, I'd have to pay $430 termination fees. Also I worry about going over the 250mb limit and the 10c per mb charge if you go over that.

Sorry for the wall of text, hopefully the above will help out someone, even though none of it fits perfectly for me. I'm still researching ... the whole thing gives me a headache.

kyhwana2

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#346759 30-Jun-2010 20:02

I think if you're mostly using data, get a 2nd phone for txt/calling and get a 2d's sim and just use vodafone for data. :P
(That's my plan, pretty much. Not using vodafone for txt/call, only data)

raftcomm

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#347404 2-Jul-2010 20:00

By the way, i would suggest that you re-check on the 3GB promotion on the Smart plans. You might find that despite the error on the website showing that its end dated, its actually still on-going.

The Smart plans is definitely the plan to go on if you need a data type plan.

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