Slingshot - Wimax (SUPER CHEAP plans)

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kwaan

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#9786 12-Oct-2006 21:34

Wireless - $99 connection fee (includes installation of antenna and labour)
Unlimited cap 10mbps up/down for $49.95 (Whangerai atm....will spread across NZ soon)

No throtlling of speed during peak time on the unlimited plan

other plans are also available....have to take homephone with them for another $49.95.....still cheap for unlimited super fast internet

you get the extra voicemail...caller id and other options for free and get to keep you telescum phone no...

http://www.slingshot.co.nz/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=999&tabid=23&SubNav=3

[Moderator edit (JF): URL Hyperlinked]

sbiddle

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#48528 13-Oct-2006 06:46

Very interesting indeed.

I'm surprised however that they aren't just using regular iTalk plans for the VoIP part - the pricing is more expensive!

Mattnzl

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#48532 13-Oct-2006 08:31

So close - yet so far

As you say, they've just hiked up their italk cost from $9.95 to $49.95, so you are really paying $89.95 for the broadband component.

Most people are looking to Decrease their phone costs - not Increase (Telecom = $42, this plan = $50). Or ditch the phone component completely.
If this was avaliable without the voice requirement it would be fantastic.

kwaan

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#48537 13-Oct-2006 09:48

Mattnzl: So close - yet so far As you say, they've just hiked up their italk cost from $9.95 to $49.95, so you are really paying $89.95 for the broadband component.

Most people are looking to Decrease their phone costs - not Increase (Telecom = $42, this plan = $50). Or ditch the phone component completely.
If this was avaliable without the voice requirement it would be fantastic.

Agree with bold part......but if i have to pay extra $8 to slingshot for a home line to completely get rid of telescum services......i would be more than happy to as they are providing unlimited internet for a very reasonable price......

Mattnzl

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#48548 13-Oct-2006 11:49

Yea, once you add callerID, voicemail, and a few other features a Telecom line would be more like $50 anyway (and then the $50 for unlimited, 10Mb down & 10Mb up wimax is pretty awesome).
The free calling area seems quite large too, all of Northland - If they continue this practice in other areas it would be a bonus too.

Anyone have any info on what the future expansion planes/dates are? gpfoums say that Auckland (unsuprisingly) is next on the list.

TinyTim

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#48552 13-Oct-2006 12:17

It looks like they have learned from TelstraClear and are only going for high value customers - those who want the extras.

sbiddle

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#48554 13-Oct-2006 12:21

I guess you could look at it another way - the voice component is only worth $9.95 per month (iTalk price) - is $90 per month for unlimed 10Mbps good value? In terms of other high speed broadband plans it is. 10Mbps on TCL cable costs $99 per month for 40GB.

Jama

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#48565 13-Oct-2006 13:39

Interesting, considering most people complain about paying $42 for a landline. Maintaining those airwaves must be very, very expensive. I wonder what the reliability will be like?

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TinyTim

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#48569 13-Oct-2006 13:47

sbiddle: I guess you could look at it another way - the voice component is only worth $9.95 per month (iTalk price) - is $90 per month for unlimed 10Mbps good value? In terms of other high speed broadband plans it is. 10Mbps on TCL cable costs $99 per month for 40GB.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't iTalk voice over Internet (at least as far as the ISP)?

And wouldn't this new "max voice" have to have its own IP stream or something, to be reliable enough? In which case it's probably worth more than $10/month. (But whether or not it's worth $50 is another issue.)

sbiddle

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#48573 13-Oct-2006 14:51

TinyTim:
sbiddle: I guess you could look at it another way - the voice component is only worth $9.95 per month (iTalk price) - is $90 per month for unlimed 10Mbps good value? In terms of other high speed broadband plans it is. 10Mbps on TCL cable costs $99 per month for 40GB.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't iTalk voice over Internet (at least as far as the ISP)?

And wouldn't this new "max voice" have to have its own IP stream or something, to be reliable enough? In which case it's probably worth more than $10/month. (But whether or not it's worth $50 is another issue.)

WiMAX should rock for VoIP - it has low latency and full QoS support. There is no reason it should cost more than the cost of iTalk. At the end of the day however this whole thing has come down to marketing - why price a phone service cheaper than it needs to be? The $99 represents a similair, if not better price, than you can get for ADSL and POTS phoneline.

Jama

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#48575 13-Oct-2006 15:02

sbiddle: why price a phone service cheaper than it needs to be? The $99 represents a similair, if not better price, than you can get for ADSL and POTS phoneline.

It should be cheaper because Slingshot had said that Telecom have been ripping off the punters for years. The basis for their LLU argument was that they could provide services cheaper than Telecom and that NZ'ers have been paying far too much for far too long.

Sounds like bollocks really - now who is ripping of whom? and who is taking advantage of the situation? That would be Slingshot. Why would your average NZ'er move if it is not going to be any cheaper and it ends up being more complicated?

Fraktul

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#48598 13-Oct-2006 17:49

No throtlling of speed during peak time on the unlimited plan

W00t! Oh hold on your contention ratio will do that for you anyhow...just because they dont intentionally throttle it does not mean you will get 10mbps symmetric all the time, far from it.

Maintaining those airwaves must be very, very expensive. I wonder what the reliability will be like?

Licensing of spectrum, R&D/testing on products, transmission site licensing, backhaul install costs and perhaps monthly rentals, cost of the base station (tens of thousands), cost of the CPE radio (several hundred), anticipated maintance costs...Soon stacks up.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't iTalk voice over Internet (at least as far as the ISP)?

And wouldn't this new "max voice" have to have its own IP stream or something, to be reliable enough? In which case it's probably worth more than $10/month. (But whether or not it's worth $50 is another issue.)

Lots of different ways to implement QoS, diffserv and 802.2p to name a few. You would be paying for 64kbps (or whatever the have their codec down to, can get down to >28kbps easy including all overhead with 'good' quality, good being subjective) of real time, commited information rate data, as opposed to 10mbps data grade peak information rate. There is a monthly cost for re-addressing your TCNZ number also until number portability. IMO i would say this is worth it.

WiMAX should rock for VoIP - it has low latency and full QoS support. There is no reason it should cost more than the cost of iTalk. At the end of the day however this whole thing has come down to marketing - why price a phone service cheaper than it needs to be? The $99 represents a similair, if not better price, than you can get for ADSL and POTS phoneline.

Why? Comparing it to iTalk is not an apples to apples comparison, one service has QoS, the other does not.

It should be cheaper because Slingshot had said that Telecom have been ripping off the punters for years. The basis for their LLU argument was that they could provide services cheaper than Telecom and that NZ'ers have been paying far too much for far too long.

Sounds like bollocks really - now who is ripping of whom? and who is taking advantage of the situation? That would be Slingshot. Why would your average NZ'er move if it is not going to be any cheaper and it ends up being more complicated?

Its the basis of their LLU argument yes, not the basis of a business case for WiMAX services. WiMAX cannot be competitive on price with local loop based bitstream services for residential customers in the current NZ environment, period. Get rid of the spectrum horders and this situation improves substantially.

juha

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#48653 14-Oct-2006 14:56

Fraktul: Its the basis of their LLU argument yes, not the basis of a business case for WiMAX services. WiMAX cannot be competitive on price with local loop based bitstream services for residential customers in the current NZ environment, period. Get rid of the spectrum horders and this situation improves substantially.

Indeed...

Also, as Fraktul says, comparing iTalk with with the entire WiMAX bundle isn't fair.

Juha