Mobile Data Pricing

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pristle

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#199173 7-Aug-2016 14:56

It's been reported (bit.ly/2avv8RD) that Zimbabwe has increased mobile data rates by as much as 500% in a bid to stem the dissension that is happening there at present.

What I found interesting is that the new pricing puts it roughly on a par with NZ's mobile data pricing....or about twice that of South Africa.

Good thing there's been no dissent in NZ.

marlinz

441 posts

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#1605982 7-Aug-2016 17:44

If you feel NZ mobile data is to expensive , you could choose not to use said data

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Behodar

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#1605992 7-Aug-2016 17:55

Local mobile data is OK in my opinion, but roaming needs work. A friend from the US pays US$10/GB while here, but I pay 3.5 times that when over there...

BarTender

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#1605997 7-Aug-2016 18:13

If data is too expensive then I am sure you could have a chat with 2degrees and invest in them to drop their data prices.
Being a Telco is hardly an extremely profitable endeavor as none of them are making money hand over fist. A good amount of the income either goes into investment or into returning a dividend to shareholders.
But only one mobile provider returns a dividend to NZ Shareholders.

wellygary

8214 posts

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#1605998 7-Aug-2016 18:15

Behodar:
Local mobile data is OK I my opinion, but roaming needs work. A friend from the US pays US$10/GB while here, but I pay 3.5 times that when over there...

Roaming charges are basically controlled by the host carrier, so in your case the US networks are charging your NZ provider heaps, and they just pass it on to you...

And in the case of charges in Zimbabwe, a country where the average income is USD 250 per month, I look forward to your application for BDFL and the implementation of this cost structure on NZ telcos...

Sam91

620 posts

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#1606024 7-Aug-2016 18:53

pristle:

What I found interesting is that the new pricing puts it roughly on a par with NZ's mobile data pricing.

Sure, but our incomes are much higher, over 10x higher from what I can see. So mobile data is far more affordable in NZ than it is in Zimbabwe (before and after the price hike).

thecatsgoolies

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#1606027 7-Aug-2016 18:58

Don't let any of us stop you from buying a way one ticket

dejadeadnz

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#1606029 7-Aug-2016 19:03

thecatsgoolies: Don't let any of us stop you from buying a way one ticket

Whilst I don't think the comparison by the OP was valid, is that kind of pointless hostility really necessary?

pristle

158 posts

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#1606144 7-Aug-2016 23:07

wellygary:
Behodar:

Local mobile data is OK I my opinion, but roaming needs work. A friend from the US pays US$10/GB while here, but I pay 3.5 times that when over there...

Roaming charges are basically controlled by the host carrier, so in your case the US networks are charging your NZ provider heaps, and they just pass it on to you...

And in the case of charges in Zimbabwe, a country where the average income is USD 250 per month, I look forward to your application for BDFL and the implementation of this cost structure on NZ telcos...

Ah...someone who read my sentence on dissent and picked up on my less serious tone.

I have to agree with Behodar about roaming costs, but as you ascribe, it's a two way street in terms of the arrangement. While there is a certain amount of 'clipping the ticket' by the local vendor, it's the foreign termination who have the ultimate margin. Having family overseas, who only have mobile access, the cost to communicate with them is considerably more than those who have a landline termination.

Hammerer

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#1606162 8-Aug-2016 06:07

A family member in Tanzania paid about a tenth the price for mobile data there: about TSH1,000 (Tanzanian shillings) or NZD1 per GB.

quickymart

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#1606654 8-Aug-2016 23:17

How fast and reliable is it though?

BarTender

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#1606727 9-Aug-2016 09:27

Hammerer:

A family member in Tanzania paid about a tenth the price for mobile data there: about TSH1,000 (Tanzanian shillings) or NZD1 per GB.

And I suspect the price of labour is quite a lot lower, as will the cost to deploy hardware (no RMA or RSM I suspect). Many african countries don't deploy fibre backhaul either, they all run it over microwave links as it's cheaper and easier to deploy with the downside of the associated capacity restriction. All you need is power and somewhere to attach it to.

(Un)fourtuantely (depending on how you look at it) NZ you have to pay staff a little bit more than Tanzania. Plus getting spectrum (RSM) and deploying fibre & towers (with RMA / Resource Consents etc) across the vast and very hilly country has associated costs. Someone has to pay for them for it to be profitable.

muppet

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#1606731 9-Aug-2016 09:29

How often do you think it falls over there and stops working?

If you got the same level of reliability here as you did there, you'd be screaming murder.

Cheap/Fast/Reliable

They've picked the first two.

NZ Telcos pick the second two.

Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!

andrew027

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#1606812 9-Aug-2016 10:35

Sure, the mobile data in Zimbabwe is cheap per GB, but for every 250MB used you receive three emails from people with billions of dollars worth of Nigerian oil money to dispose of and your phone randomly makes a Western Union wire transfer to a European lottery.