Wifi in New Zealand could mean flat rate 3G data prices on Vodafone

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Wifi in New Zealand could mean flat rate 3G data prices on Vodafone

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VFNZPaulBrislen

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#87449 20-Sep-2007 20:47

Ah, it's a connection fee, not another monthly fee... as I said, German never was my strong suit...

but you've got a plan there that's limited. No VoIP, or voice service of any kind. On the Vodafone NZ network that's not the case - a packet is a packet.

You also say the T&C say:

With the "Base Internet Flatrate", all packet-switched data transmitted via UMTS or GPRS
is free of charge within the E-Plus Network when sent via the access points (APNs) listed below.

any idea what that means? Does the user only get unlimited data "within the E-Plus Network" or is that in addition to unlimited traffic anywhere on the interweb?

Curious Paul

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CrispinMullins

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#87450 20-Sep-2007 20:53

I could have rendered that much more effectively, huh? Sorry. What it means is that it the data flatrate doesn't apply when you're roaming on other networks; you have to be on E-Plus's German network. (E-Plus owns BASE).

You're right that the plan is limited: no VOIP or voice service. But there is no fair use and no data caps!

VFNZPaulBrislen

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#87452 20-Sep-2007 21:04

CrispinMullins: I could have rendered that much more effectively, huh? Sorry. What it means is that it the data flatrate doesn't apply when you're roaming on other networks; you have to be on E-Plus's German network. (E-Plus owns BASE).

You're right that the plan is limited: no VOIP or voice service. But there is no fair use and no data caps!

No problem - Having tried to learn French, German, Latin, Japanese and Welsh, I'm in awe of anyone who can speak more than one language...

So, just to clarify, BASE customers can surf the net beyond the E-Plus network and still be unlimited? However if they roam (either within Germany or internationally) they get charged the roaming rate (which is fair enough)...

Cheers

Paul

Paul Brislen
Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

CrispinMullins

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#87453 20-Sep-2007 21:05

Yes, that's correct.

paradoxsm

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#87462 20-Sep-2007 22:00

What's with that contract clause? 24 months and "automatically extended" if you do not cancel 3 months before the end... That's a "catch" if ever I saw one.

CrispinMullins

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#87463 20-Sep-2007 22:03

paradoxsm: What's with that contract clause? 24 months and "automatically extended" if you do not cancel 3 months before the end... That's a "catch" if ever I saw one.

Yeah, it's pretty standard practice in Germany. It caught me out once, and I was pretty angry about it. You also have to cancel in writing, not over the phone...

abc123456

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#87525 21-Sep-2007 12:18

paul brislen,

vodafone cannot beat kordia $9.95 unlimited data usage,no cap for 24 hours. i could download way more than 6 gigabytes of data in twenty fours hours on kordia. wifi is still alot cheaper than 3g. can vodafone offer me more than 6gb of data for 24 hours of use paul? no you cannot. you only have a monthly subscription plan and expensive casual rates.

paul brislen,this is taken from the official iphone website:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/easysetup/rateplans.html

for us$59.99,which is $82 new zealand dollars a month,i can get unlimited data usage. now can vodafone new zealand offer unlimited usage for $82 new zealand dollars a month? I don't think so.

and have a look at tmobiles wifi plan:

http://hotspot.t-mobile.com/services_plans.htm

for $55 new zealand dollars a month you can get unlimited usage wifi.

and for $14 new zealand dollars i can get 24 hours of unlimited usage.

for vodafone to beat wifi over the next few months to a year,it needs to offer unlimited monthly data usage for at least $82 a month.

there is no way vodafone can offer 24 hour plans because when you connect to 3g you are not connecting to a hotspot and you are not presented with a payment page with 3g. i think it is technically impossible for vodafone to offer 24 hour plans. the only plans vodafone can offer are casual plans(charge per megabyte), monthly plans and yearly plans.

once apple open up their iphone sdk to developers,expect to see skype and other voip applications on the iphone which use wifi,and are not dependent on the mobile carrier.

the ipod touch already has some applications for it so it will only be a month or two until we see skype and voip applications that use wifi. unlimited 24 hour wifi usage for $9.95 a month here i come.

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freitasm

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#87528 21-Sep-2007 12:26

This was discussed at length before and it was always shown that there's no "unlimited" plan anywhere.

Have you actually read AT&'s terms and conditions? If you go through their pages you will find the following:

Service is not intended to provide full-time connections, and the Service may be discontinued after a significant period of inactivity or after sessions of excessive usage. AT&T reserves the right to (i) limit throughput or amount of data transferred, deny Service and/or terminate Service, without notice, to anyone it believes is using the Service in any manner prohibited above or whose usage adversely impacts its wireless network or service levels or hinders access to its wireless network and (ii) protect its wireless network from harm, which may impact legitimate data flows.

UNLIMITED PLANS CANNOT BE USED FOR UPLOADING, DOWNLOADING OR STREAMING OF VIDEO CONTENT (E.G. MOVIES, TV), MUSIC OR GAMES. FURTHERMORE, UNLIMITED PLANS (EXCEPT FOR DATACONNECT AND BLACKBERRY TETHERED) CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY APPLICATIONS THAT TETHER THE DEVICE (THROUGH USE OF, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, CONNECTION KITS, OTHER PHONE/PDA-TO-COMPUTER ACCESSORIES, BLUETOOTH® OR ANY OTHER WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY) TO LAPTOPS, PCS, OR OTHER EQUIPMENT FOR ANY PURPOSE

The problem is - AT&T doesn't say what's the limit. In cities with high utilisation the limit is generally lower than in other places.

You are only kidding yourself when you believe there are "unlimited" plans overseas. Most plans are limited to 1GB or 3GB a month. O2 launched an unlimited plan with 50MB a month a couple of months ago!

So, please, stop trolling Vodafone.

CrispinMullins

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#87530 21-Sep-2007 12:27

abc123456: unlimited 24 hour wifi usage for $9.95 a month here i come.

You do realise that Kordia's unlimited 24 hour plan for $9.95 is for 24 hours, and not a whole month, don't you? A whole month would cost you (number of days in the month) * $9.95.

VFNZPaulBrislen

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#87531 21-Sep-2007 12:33

abc123456:
paul brislen,

vodafone cannot beat kordia $9.95 unlimited data usage,no cap for 24 hours. i could download way more than 6 gigabytes of data in twenty fours hours on kordia. wifi is still alot cheaper than 3g. can vodafone offer me more than 6gb of data for 24 hours of use paul? no you cannot. you only have a monthly subscription plan and expensive casual rates.

and as I said, I'm talking about mobile data, not wifi data. Mobile networks buy licenses for spectrum and so can guarantee throughput etc... wifi is a best efforts endeavour that certainly does have its place (I use it every day) but is not the same thing. Try comparing like with like before you go into attack mode.

Cheers

Paul

Paul Brislen
Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

freitasm

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#87532 21-Sep-2007 12:34

CrispinMullins:
abc123456: unlimited 24 hour wifi usage for $9.95 a month here i come.

You do realise that Kordia's unlimited 24 hour plan for $9.95 is for 24 hours, and not a whole month, don't you? A whole month would cost you (number of days in the month) * $9.95.

CirspinMullins, I think the poster didn't realise his "unlimited" Wi-Fi would cost more than $300 in a 31 day month. But hey, suits him/her to be blind to some legal aspects, I guess.

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#87533 21-Sep-2007 12:38

The user abc123456 was banned because the IP address used is associated with the same IP address previously used by a user who signed up with three other names and was banned from Geekzone.

I am now locking this discussion.

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