Are we being ripped off for our internet

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1647 posts

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#1604866 5-Aug-2016 10:36

rmt38:

tdgeek:

freitasm:

On the other hand our Internet is so much better than what they have in Australia...

And the US

Not really. It's like NZ, it depends on where you live. Not everyone is getting this wonderful unlimited broadband and best case deals.

I lived in the US around 2007, and paid double digits for unlimited broadband through comcast (although they did at some point admit they got pissy if people used over 250GB a month). Speed was capped at 1MB/s I think and was reliable. That's still better than what some people get 7 years later, in NZ.

If you're comparing coverage we're way better than US too.

We already have fibre available to 50% of the people, and this will reach 80-90% in the next few years. They have something like 20%.

WyleECoyoteNZ

1049 posts

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#1604871 5-Aug-2016 10:41

I pay 183 ish to Vodafone all up a month for Unlimited Cable, Basic Sky, Sport, The Vodafone TV Box, and phone.

To leave Vodafone and go to say spark fastest cable, and get Sky & Sky sports from Sky, would, at current prices cost me more.

Sure I could ditch Sky, and get Netflix, but then I'd miss out on the Sports, the 70 series SKy channels (Nat Geo, History, BBC Knowledge aka Top Gear channel, Discovery Turbo)

It's a bundled deal, and saves a little bit each month, but of course you are tied to either a 12 or 24 month plan\contract.

BigPipeNZ

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BigPipe

#1604883 5-Aug-2016 10:51

BTR:

For the last few years I've been lucky enough to have cheap internet access however now that has ended and I'm stunned that I will have to pay almost $100 to have an unlimited plan just for an ADSL connection

When did internet access become so expensive, yes speed and data caps have increased over the years but the price of internet has doubled since 2008 when the price of technology has becoming cheaper. Wasn't the unbundling of Telecoms fixed network supposed to make it cheaper for us all?

Mobile prices have gone down so why hasn't broadband done the same?

even if you ignore the fact that data caps have soared, as have speeds, the price for 'broadband' has not doubled since 2008.

What has changed is the way the pricing is structured though.

Back in 2008, you paid, say, $40 for the most common broadband plans (would have been ADSL1 and around 10GB of data)

BUT at the same time you were also forced to buy a landline before you could get that broadband. A landline cost around $45. so really you were paying $85 for broadband.

Fast forward to today, the pricing model has changed a lot. Yes, on the face of it the common price for broadband sits around $80 - which is double the $40 you paid in 2008. BUT a) you don't need to buy a landline to go with it and b) if you do want a landline, that only costs $5-$10 more.

so you cannot really just look at how much 'broadband' cost in 2008 and compare to today, since the way it is purchased is so different. You couldn't really buy broadband on it's own back then, so the price was highly distorted.

What you can compare is the cost of landline+broadband, and that hasn't really changed (but the value has skyrocketed in terms of datacap and speed, as well as things like included minutes and cost per minute for calls, if you care about those)

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BTR

1527 posts

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#1605007 5-Aug-2016 13:41

Where I live VDSL and UFB are not available, unlimited Naked ADSL from 2 Degrees is $95 per month, Spark is $94.99 for the same thing, Vodafone is $94.99, Big pipe is the cheapest at $79 thats I've seen.

Comparing UFB to ADSL is not the same, UFB is a much better service. Whether you have naked DSL or with a home phone only seems to have a difference of $10 so really when you are guying naked DSL you are actually paying the same price as you would have years ago and if you do want a land line it costs you more!

I see there has been a few replies about speed and data caps being much better these days but mobile services have improved and their prices have dropped over time so why hasn't the price of broadband dropped?

wellygary

8320 posts

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#1605008 5-Aug-2016 13:45

BTR:

I see there has been a few replies about speed and data caps being much better these days but mobile services have improved and their prices have dropped over time so why hasn't the price of broadband dropped?

Because the copper connection is a regulated monopoly, with pricing determined by the Commerce Commission...

mattwnz

20152 posts

Uber Geek

#1605013 5-Aug-2016 14:03

Not to mention that since 2008, house prices have nearly doubled in Auckland. So effectively we are paying significantly less for internet now in terms of the dollars buying power, than we were 10 years ago, due to inflation.

PhantomNVD

2619 posts

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#1605085 5-Aug-2016 16:11

Or just take a cap again and go $55/60Gb or $65/100Gb with Skinny Broadband (and measly $99 modem startup cost)

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raytaylor

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#1605088 5-Aug-2016 16:13

freitasm:

On the other hand our Internet is so much better than what they have in Australia...

And the USA. They have entire cities running on 4mbps DSL

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SteveON

1916 posts

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#1605091 5-Aug-2016 16:19

freitasm:

On the other hand our Internet is so much better than what they have in Australia...

I live in Australia and get Unlimited broadband for $69/mo. For the privilege of living in one of Melbourne's most affluent suburbs (Toorak), I get a whopping 9mb down and 0.10mb up. Yes this is 128kb up ... when it works!

I used to work up the road in Hawthorn and for a business 20/20mb connection, they had to pay over $500/mo.

Wellington and Auckland completed the city fiber links over 10-15 years ago. I work on Collins Street in the Melbourne CBD and outside they are still installing it here!

Yes NZ has traditionally had expensive broadband, we have a low concentration of people, a hilly terrain and we are very very isolated. Considering this, NZ has some of the fastest wireless (4G) and fixed line broadband in the world. Australia is all hyped up about their NBN (FFTN), NZ completed the FFTN network a long time ago, we are taking it one step further and building Fiber to the home (FTTH) for our NBN. Whenever I go back to my mothers house in Wellington, I can't believe how her broadband is faster than our office in Collins street and I work for one of the worlds largest IT firms, here at UXC/CSC we only get a 50mb link for a 300 person office.

How about we stop being the victims by feeling ripped off and enjoy living in one of the best countries in the world. One of the things I am looking forward to in NZ next month, is to getting access to real broadband at home.

blakamin

4431 posts

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#1605115 5-Aug-2016 17:22

SteveON:

freitasm:

On the other hand our Internet is so much better than what they have in Australia...

I live in Australia and get Unlimited broadband for $69/mo. For the privilege of living in one of Melbourne's most affluent suburbs (Toorak), I get a whopping 9mb down and 0.10mb up. Yes this is 128kb up ...

Adelaide here... Got lucky and I had the choice of ADSL 6d/0.5up or cable... As you can guess, we got cable 4 years ago. Over $100 a month for 100d/2u 500Gb (was 200Gb until recently)

That's the fastest I can get until NBN finish buying and upgrading the HFC network. No fibre for me ever.

Oh, and when NBN do finish the upgrade, I'll probably be paying more for less, like 25/25 or something stupid.

MadEngineer

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#1605149 5-Aug-2016 18:16

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mcraenz

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#1605161 5-Aug-2016 18:38

Could anyone speculate what UFB would cost without any contribution from the New Zealand government?

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richms

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#1605175 5-Aug-2016 19:03

Some people are getting ripped off, those that are with an ISP that doesnt provide what they bill for. My Republic, vodafone cable come to mind, but in the past the jetstart throttling was a clear case of being ripped off. The thread on "unlimited internet" and their limits was a ripoff for people who joined and found that it was in fact limited, and Raf's dealing with wireless nation and them throttling the unlimited DSL that he has no choice of other provider to get from is another rip off.

But the price and availabiliy of internet from the providers that deliver what they say they will is far far from a rip off. $90 for unlimited VDSL is IMO great value.

Richard rich.ms

yitz

2075 posts

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#1605183 5-Aug-2016 20:06

Also the fact we can get top tier 200/200 broadband as a standalone offering at fair prices, not having to bundle it with pay TV or something else you don't want.

wellygary

8320 posts

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#1605196 5-Aug-2016 20:35

mcraenz: Could anyone speculate what UFB would cost without any contribution from the New Zealand government?

I'm not sure it would be that much different in price,
but I suspect the rollout in places other than the big centres would be much , much slower , or even non existent..

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