RBI launch prices

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#585269 22-Feb-2012 17:25

Telecom will charge $500 for new rural connections if you have network going past your property. if they have to extend the network to get to your property then it becomes a 'high cost new connection' and can cost upwards of $1000 depending on what work needs to be done.

Does the $90 include a voip line? If it is $90 for just pure broadband that is a bit steep for just 10GB. What speeds can they deliver? The magical 10Mbps?

freitasm

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#585271 22-Feb-2012 17:26

chevrolux: Does the $90 include a voip line? If it is $90 for just pure broadband that is a bit steep for just 10GB. What speeds can they deliver? The magical 10Mbps?

Hit the link in the OP for more information. It does include a VoIP line.

How can people discuss things if not RTFA?

mattwnz

20163 posts

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#585272 22-Feb-2012 17:26

MikeSkyrme:
mattwnz:
MikeSkyrme: So $90 for 10GB, includes free local calling and phone line rental.

Not too far from other packages available.

Of course the install fees and additional data rates are a bit of a joke.

I think Telecoms install fee for a landine in a rural area is about that. Last time we contacted them it was at least $500 as it was semi rural. But if you live right out in the wops , it is over $1000 I believe.

Fair point. But with the Telecom install, aren't you getting a load of copper and PVC stuff installed within a trench for that pricing?

Nope. At least not in my experience. We paid for all the line and trenching to be done at the time the power was put in, and it was connected to the power poll at the front gate, which is on SH2. Apparently the cost is for them to connect it at the exchange, which I don't think should be any different from a suburban connection. We never got it connected, as cheaper to use vodafone mobile. Probably will never get it connected now.

johnmo

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#585273 22-Feb-2012 17:26

We live a couple of k's from the Eureka Tower.
Currently on ADSL and getting 3.7Mbps as we are 2.6km from the eureka exchange.
VOIP for work works well over this and get 40GB inc home line (local number is over the copper still) from Orcon for $80

Vodafone wants to charge $80 for 5GB plus install fee of hundreds. for a 3G wireless modem that will just sit in the window plus $30 per GB overage.

Seems that the poor buggers JUST down the road but only a k or two away are having to pay way more to get any sort of data usage!!

Thought of using the RBI as a backup but this pricing is a few years out of date!!

John

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#585276 22-Feb-2012 17:30

I have a update from Vodafone on the excess usage... Perhaps on a brilliant case of "blame the web page content manager guy", I am told customers could buy extra 5GB packs for $20 if needed.

I am waiting for confirmation of this and why it is not listed on the prices list, instead pointing to the $30/GB excess charge.

Just to document it here, this is a screenshot with the current prices:

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

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#585291 22-Feb-2012 17:59

johnmo: We live a couple of k's from the Eureka Tower.
Currently on ADSL and getting 3.7Mbps as we are 2.6km from the eureka exchange.
VOIP for work works well over this and get 40GB inc home line (local number is over the copper still) from Orcon for $80

Vodafone wants to charge $80 for 5GB plus install fee of hundreds. for a 3G wireless modem that will just sit in the window plus $30 per GB overage.

Seems that the poor buggers JUST down the road but only a k or two away are having to pay way more to get any sort of data usage!!

Thought of using the RBI as a backup but this pricing is a few years out of date!!

John

RBI is designed for people who cannot get fixed line broadband. If you are alreayd getting fixe dbroadband then it isn't really meant for you at all.

Beccara

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#585302 22-Feb-2012 18:38

That was the idea behind it, the reality is very different. The RBI coverage plans for Northland is the bulk of our own coverage and VERY VERY little that we dont cover, Despite there being a clause about overbuilding in areas where RBI target speeds are already offered.

After seeing the documents and knowing the pricing around the wholesale area's and tower colo along with overbuild and the bait and switch during the tender I think an investigation from Parliament is warranted

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johnmo

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#585342 22-Feb-2012 20:17

So if i live in area where RBI via Vodafone is available and there is old infastructure also, why should i get cheaper data than my next door neighbour who does not have old infastructure available because of historical reasons.

So new infastructure cannot deliver data at a cheaper or similar price?

Remember the question is about the data cost and not the fixed costs for the delivery system. I dont understand why the data costs are higher with new infastructure.

Then the next question has to be

Why should a farmer who is a nett export earner have to pay more for data than a city dweller who is probably a nett importer on a scheme that is largly government funded?

RBI speeds are way less than fibre speeds anyway and now we see data costs are way more as well.

Fibre has many suppliers available to buy data from so there is competition.
RBI does not appear to have multiple suppliers of the data so there is no competition and then there is no regulation to control price of the data. It looks like we are already seeing the monopoly pricing for data showing through!

djrm

191 posts

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#585352 22-Feb-2012 20:41

I have been complaining about these prices since they installed their first RBI tower in Kumeu at the beginning of December.

These prices are supposed to be equitable with urban but they are not. The install price is a joke seeing as all that it involves is antennae, wiring, radio and router. My wifi install cost $200 3 years ago.
The other matter that you have to consider that VF are getting a public money grant for this to reduce costs so where has our money gone?

Where is JR from Vodafone, oh yeah, forgot, he doesnt like it when we are right.

tdgeek

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#585390 22-Feb-2012 22:51

It may possibly be that there has to be a return on the investment, as John key stated, it is not a grant. (That is the case with UFB, or is RBI a grant?)

From a financial aspect, there has been reasonably large capex investment, but a relatively low number of paying customers. Something has to balance the books, or at least recover the books.

NonprayingMantis

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#585391 22-Feb-2012 22:59

RBI is essentially mobile broadband.
mobile broadband is expensive $30/GB overage sounds high compared to fixed, but it;s not bad formobile broadband.

have a look here
LINK

"With typical 3G implementations, the average network
cost per megabyte (MB) will be roughly 0.8 to
1.2 US cents for an average operator."

so just pure network cost (no other overheads at all) averaged across urban and rural for an average sized market is, say, 1c/MB US So for Vodafone to provide overage data at only 3c/MB NZD, when our market is very small, the data in question is extremely rural, albeit subsidised, doesn't sound too bad at all. (there is a reason why 2Degrees launched urban first, and are still to have cell towers in rural areas - it's much more expensive)

(smartphone plans can be made cheaper than that because people don't typically use all the data, but at 3c/MB there will be no 'unused' data to offset this)

loganjames

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#585393 22-Feb-2012 23:06

Are the towers different to the normal Cell towers? What's to stop someone using a vodem or pocket wifi device and using one of these plans

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/mobile-broadband/all-plans/

Less data but little or no install fee

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

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#585394 22-Feb-2012 23:09

Why should a farmer who is a nett export earner have to pay more for data than a city dweller who is probably a nett importer on a scheme that is largly government funded?

why shouldn't he pay more? It cost more to provide. A lot more.

I live in the city but would love to pay rural prices for my land.
an acre in rural areas costs hundreds of thousands less than an acre in auckland cbd, seems fair that they should pay a little bit more for broadband since they save so much on real estate.

You don't see me demading that farmers subsidise my land purchases in the city, so why should I subsidise farmer's broadband connections?

It's all swings and roundabaouts.

jjnz1

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#585395 22-Feb-2012 23:17

djrm: I have been complaining about these prices since they installed their first RBI tower in Kumeu at the beginning of December.

These prices are supposed to be equitable with urban but they are not. The install price is a joke seeing as all that it involves is antennae, wiring, radio and router. My wifi install cost $200 3 years ago.
The other matter that you have to consider that VF are getting a public money grant for this to reduce costs so where has our money gone?

Where is JR from Vodafone, oh yeah, forgot, he doesnt like it when we are right.

I dont think the install price is a joke... at least not for the 1 month plans. Maybe should be cheaper for the 24 month though.

My Wifi router, Yagi antenna, cable, 3G minipci card,power supply and voip device cost in excess of $700 just to buy. Now if I had factored in my labour and travel time, plus a markup on the gear, your looking at well over $1k.

Yes thats expensive, but we are talking about people in the middle of nowhere... (nowhere being no cabinets). Should there be more of a subsidy on the install, probably. But VF and Telecom won't do this project for free. There has to be a reasonable rate of return and as we all know, NZ also doesn't have the population density to compare prices with most other parts of the world. Just look at the current Satellite broadband speeds/prices in the States compared with here. (USA get 40Mbps down for $70, we get 4Mbps for $300!)

I see this product as a premium product, just like SKY satellite TV was in the early 90's. It is not yet a commodity like fixed broadband is in the urban areas.

Also: The high prices are designed to discourage people from using wireless broadband like they would a fixed line product. The reason for this is I would imagine most fibre fed cell towers are initially designed to run off 1x 1Gpbs backhaul connection. This capacity cap does indeed limit each user. John (VF) correct me if I am wrong, but I assume your tower locations are strategically positioned to service at least a few thousand potential voice/data clients? (not all at once of course). Imagine if you only paid 30% more than a fixed line connection. I know that personally, instead of downloading 5GB per month over 3G, I would download 30GB. Imagine when everyone gets to that point... Backhaul+wireless capacity kaos.

Zeon

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#585398 22-Feb-2012 23:27

If a tower is fibre fed they shouldn't have any problems with backhaul. There will be multiple fibres at least for link aggregation (1gbps gear is very cheap). Even 10gbps is getting cheap these days.

The main issue I can see it radio spectrum usage - 3g just isn't that effective hence why LTE is a big change as it is far more efficient and will allow greater data caps over the same radio spectrum.

Maybe with colo on the towers some of the WISPS can at least service some customers (maybe with a relay going) with point to point solutions that will be much cheaper/faster/bigger caps.

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