RBI pricing

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kaihoka

164 posts

Master Geek

#120988 20-Jun-2013 15:10

could some help me understand how RBI pricing works.
if telcos need to charge what they do for mobile data to make it economic , how can vodafone give you 15 GB for just over $100.
is it because the towers are connected to the fiber network.
if so does that mean towers that will never be connected with cable, because they are up a mountain, will never be upgraded to RBI.
would that therefore mean that some parts of the country will never ever have any form of reasonably priced broadband.
currently i am on mobile broad band with telecom and i am very happy with all elements of the service except for price

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#840346 20-Jun-2013 15:15

Pricing is not related to how sites are connected back to the Core network,

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/about/rural-broadband-initiative/

RBI has been part funded by the tax payer / NZ Government and is regulated

I am not happy with the retail price of a Ferrari so I drive a Ford Telstar

kaihoka

164 posts

Master Geek

#840675 20-Jun-2013 23:16

will the people who will never have access to RBI and cheaper broadband because vodafone is never going to upgrade the tower in their area get their broad band subsidised by the tax payer too.

grant_k

3539 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#840683 20-Jun-2013 23:30

kaihoka: will the people who will never have access to RBI and cheaper broadband because vodafone is never going to upgrade the tower in their area get their broad band subsidised by the tax payer too.

I think I'm correct in saying that all Vodafone cellular base stations with 900MHz 3G Broadband Extended equipment will eventually be upgraded to support the RBI plans. It's just a matter of when in the rollout your particular base station is scheduled to be upgraded.

Have a look at the coverage map here:

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/about/media-centre/rural-broadband-initiative/coverage/

and you will see the extent of the "Final RBI coverage" and it's pretty much everywhere that any significant population exists.

coffeebaron

6232 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#840728 21-Jun-2013 08:51

kaihoka: will the people who will never have access to RBI and cheaper broadband because vodafone is never going to upgrade the tower in their area get their broad band subsidised by the tax payer too.

What part of the country are you at? Do you currently get any 3G coverage on Vodafone?

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kaihoka

164 posts

Master Geek

#840746 21-Jun-2013 09:15

hi
i am on the westcoast of goldenbay. i have line of site to the vodafone tower.[ mnt Burnet]
i see from he map that when you upgrade i am definitively going to have good signal.
my concerns have been that there was a rumor that this tower was going to be relocated.
my neighbour who was with vodafone and noticed a drop in service reliability was told by vodafone that the tower had been down graded and bits removed because not enough people were using vodafone in the area
from a business model point of view there action makes perfect sense.
they are putting 2 new towers in golden bay and relocating the the mnt burnet tower would only disadvantage 100 or so people and save themselves alot of service costs.
unfortunately i would be one of the people.

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#840751 21-Jun-2013 09:23

No tower would be down graded a site could be relocated quite possible this is nothing new

kaihoka

164 posts

Master Geek

#840763 21-Jun-2013 09:32

is there anyway i could find out if this was going to happen

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kaihoka

164 posts

Master Geek

#840795 21-Jun-2013 09:46

the rbi coverage map pretty much overlaps the 3g extend map.
the people in my community are using a mix of stuff to stay connected.
some on dial up , some on farm side but none who has F Side is very happy with it and
quiet a few are using mobile broadband and holding out for RBI.
if it is nevr going to happen for us it would be good to know.
the new tower on the other side of the bay would be 37 klms away.
can signals comfortably carry that far

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#840797 21-Jun-2013 09:48

kaihoka: the new tower on the other side of the bay would be 37 klms away.
can signals comfortably carry that far

Depends if anything is in the way like a Hill

kaihoka

164 posts

Master Geek

#840844 21-Jun-2013 10:19

a hill for me but for my neighbours it is straight across the water.
they are in pakawau a coastal settlement
would they get a good strong signal

grant_k

3539 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#840855 21-Jun-2013 10:23

kaihoka: the rbi coverage map pretty much overlaps the 3g extend map.

That's right ... because eventually, they will be one and the same in rural areas.

kaihoka: quiet a few are using mobile broadband and holding out for RBI.
if it is nevr going to happen for us it would be good to know.

It won't happen overnight, but it WILL happen :)