UFB Pricing

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21brandon21

145 posts

Master Geek

#115830 8-Apr-2013 19:23

Hey there,

I just have a question. I was just wondering why there's a Premium price on UFB Versus Traditional ADSL?

With Telecom to get 100Mb/50Mb Up/Down you have to pay a premium of $40 for the 500GB plan.

ADSL 500GB = $119
100Mb/50Mb = $159

Why is there a premium price? I suspect this would be the case with other ISP's too. I thought UFB would be cheaper?

I understand the case for a premium price from 3G to 4G that Vodafone are currently offering. But what baffles me is why this is the case with Broadband. Vodafone funded their own 4G Network. Didn't Taxpayers fund around 1.35B for this UFB Network?

Yet why is there a premium to get this?

My current ISP is Vodafone, but I assume they would put a premium price as-well.

I don't see why ordinary people would want to pay a $40 premium price to get faster speed when imo it's already perfect for 'ordinary' use. I can even load 4K videos without it buffering and have zero lag with gaming.

Cheers!

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308 posts

Ultimate Geek

#795200 8-Apr-2013 19:45

Because it's faster?

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21brandon21

145 posts

Master Geek

#795201 8-Apr-2013 19:47

ChrisNZL: Because it's faster?

I'd accept that argument if ISP's funded the Network. But it's the Taxpayers who funded the Network.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#795208 8-Apr-2013 20:03

taxpayers only funded *part* of the network, the part that enables you to get UFB at a reasonable price instead of not at all
without taxpayer funding, it wouldn't even be built.
but the rest is still funded by Chorus and other LFCs who in turn charge ISPs to recover their costs and make a profit.

nickb800

2699 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#795209 8-Apr-2013 20:05

The taxpayers provided interest free capital for the network, they dont own it afaik.

The wholesale cost for a UFB connection is set by Crown Fibre Holdings, all ISPs must pay this cost for each connection, it costs more to provide a UFB connection hence the higher price. That said, Telecom is a special case as they are providing a traditional copper phone line with their fibre connections at present, so the Telecom pricing reflects the cost of providing and maintaining two separate networks into your house. This is partly why the Telecom UFB price is higher than most other ISP's UFB prices.

Fibre offers a much higher upload speed than DSL (quicker uploading videos & photos), and the higher download speed means that several people in the house can all stream high-def content at once.

Ultimately this is a future proofed network, if you dont need it now no-one is forcing it upon you, that said, you are bound to find yourself needing it at some point in the future - and it will be there ready for you to connect.

Ragnor

8085 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#795235 8-Apr-2013 20:49

21brandon21:
ChrisNZL: Because it's faster?

I'd accept that argument if ISP's funded the Network. But it's the Taxpayers who funded the Network.

With higher access/line rates ISP's need more backhaul to their network and more domestic and international bandwidth/transit to ensure quality of service and avoid major congestion.

Bandwidth costs real money.

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#795240 8-Apr-2013 20:55

If ADSL is working so well for you stay on it :)

sbiddle

30853 posts

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#795259 8-Apr-2013 21:35

21brandon21: Hey there,

I just have a question. I was just wondering why there's a Premium price on UFB Versus Traditional ADSL?

With Telecom to get 100Mb/50Mb Up/Down you have to pay a premium of $40 for the 500GB plan.

ADSL 500GB = $119
100Mb/50Mb = $159

Why does a Lexus cost more than a Toyota? They've both got four wheels and made in the same factory.

You're comparing two totally different products, that's why the price differs. If you wanted to ask about pricing you could have at least compared a 30/10 offering with ADSL.

blair003

557 posts

Ultimate Geek

#795261 8-Apr-2013 21:36

21brandon21: Hey there,

I just have a question. I was just wondering why there's a Premium price on UFB Versus Traditional ADSL?

With Telecom to get 100Mb/50Mb Up/Down you have to pay a premium of $40 for the 500GB plan.

ADSL 500GB = $119
100Mb/50Mb = $159

Why is there a premium price? I suspect this would be the case with other ISP's too. I thought UFB would be cheaper?

...

I don't see why ordinary people would want to pay a $40 premium price to get faster speed when imo it's already perfect for 'ordinary' use. I can even load 4K videos without it buffering and have zero lag with gaming.

Cheers!

I think you should compare the UFB 30/10 plan because that is what 'ordinary people' will be going for.
That is $129, so $10/mo more than ADSL. Your question may still be valid, and I have no idea what restrictions the government put on the UFB partners, but the answer is probably 'because they can'.

kyhwana2

2553 posts

Uber Geek

#795265 8-Apr-2013 21:41

Because it costs more. (Wholesale)
ISPs also have to provision more a) handovers/national bandwidth b) more international bandwidth.

Why do cars with bigger/faster engines/more shiney things cost more than cars without all those things?

Publius

276 posts

Ultimate Geek

#797886 11-Apr-2013 16:56

The 100/50 wholesale rate is $55 whereas the 30/10 wholesale is ~$37 so don't expect faster to to be free.

sbiddle

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#797906 11-Apr-2013 17:21

Publius: The 100/50 wholesale rate is $55 whereas the 30/10 wholesale is ~$37 so don't expect faster to to be free.

But remember from next year the price of 30Mbps services increases each year until 2019 while the price of 100Mbps services (and some other higher priced / value products) drops yearly until 2019.

21brandon21

145 posts

Master Geek

#798561 12-Apr-2013 18:35

edition.cnn.com/2013/04/11/tech/innovation/google-fiber-austin-cities/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6

If only Google Fiber came here.. Not only is it cheaper but hell of a lot faster. $70USD a month for 1Gb/s.

I still vehemently believe we are being ripped off greatly from the pricing of UFB.

Handle9

9637 posts

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#798565 12-Apr-2013 19:08

21brandon21: edition.cnn.com/2013/04/11/tech/innovation/google-fiber-austin-cities/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6

If only Google Fiber came here.. Not only is it cheaper but hell of a lot faster. $70USD a month for 1Gb/s.

I still vehemently believe we are being ripped off greatly from the pricing of UFB.

Could you please explain why you believe that? Can you please base your analysis on an acceptable return for a company doing this in New Zealand as a profit making exercise rather than a publicity stunt?

kyhwana2

2553 posts

Uber Geek

#798567 12-Apr-2013 19:13

21brandon21: edition.cnn.com/2013/04/11/tech/innovation/google-fiber-austin-cities/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6

If only Google Fiber came here.. Not only is it cheaper but hell of a lot faster. $70USD a month for 1Gb/s.

I still vehemently believe we are being ripped off greatly from the pricing of UFB.

How so? How cheap do you want fibre for? $19.95 a month? Come on!

sbiddle

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#798576 12-Apr-2013 19:21

21brandon21: edition.cnn.com/2013/04/11/tech/innovation/google-fiber-austin-cities/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6

If only Google Fiber came here.. Not only is it cheaper but hell of a lot faster. $70USD a month for 1Gb/s.

I still vehemently believe we are being ripped off greatly from the pricing of UFB.

I don't know what you're smoking today.

Maybe you could explain the basis for that comment and what you're comparing it to - if you're comparing pricing solely to Google Fiber the debate it already over and you just lost.

I'm assuming based on your comments you've built a business case that can show an ROI on fibre, even at current pricing in NZ which is over $6000 just to install fibre into a home?

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