Steam servers no longer on Orcon Ozone from 23rd Jan 2013

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Steam servers no longer on Orcon Ozone from 23rd Jan 2013

quentinreade

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#112590 13-Dec-2012 13:48

Hi guys,

As many of you know, we have decided to remove Steam from the Ozone from the 23rd of Jan.

There's been a bunch of people on twitter asking why we are removing it.

It’s not something that we have done lightly.

It all comes back to the fact we can’t guarantee that ALL of someone’s Steam downloads will be zero-rated (just because that’s the way Steam works), and that’s been haunting us from launch.

We have credited people back who got bill shock and we have been trying to educate people re: how Steam content is served, but haven't been able to educate all.

We genuinely wanted to offer this service, and zero rate the content from our Steam server.

But it’s gotten to a stage where we feel we can’t persist, and we have made the call to stop zero-rating it.

Sorry about that, we hope you enjoyed it while it lasted, and make the most of it before Jan 23.

Cheers

Comms chap

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#732041 13-Dec-2012 14:01

I think this is a good move. It brings more clarity to the process. Larger data caps are the right way to go, instead of unmetered content.

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hio77

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#732049 13-Dec-2012 14:07

a shame you guys were put in the position where the decision had to be made however, you cant teach everyone..
should have always been taken as what data comes off the cache server is free, that's a benefit not something to expect.

still, there was talk about closing the server down completely so by far this a good move

personally i use the orcon steam server often, being on another ISP its always used the cap.

im sure it will get a lot of use with the upcoming Christmas sales on steam!

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NonprayingMantis

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#732051 13-Dec-2012 14:14

are you just stopping the unmetering but keeping the server, or are you ditching the server altogether?

alliao

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#732054 13-Dec-2012 14:16

Is the server getting shutdown? Therefore losing both speed and unmetered data.

Or the server is staying up, so we still get the speed but charged like the good old days.

Or the server is sticking around, and still unmetered and this is just a public service broadcast..

jannisg

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#732057 13-Dec-2012 14:20

I think the reason for stopping to zero-rate the traffic is solid and understandable.

The only gripe I have about it is that Orcon has stopped providing a capped high-speed data plan (100/200/1000GB add-on data packs) when they introduced their "unlimited" plans.

So the max capped plan you can now purchase tops out at 60GB/month as far as I can tell which given a A-title game's size (GTA anyone?) can easily be maxed out on Steam data with a bit of normal browsing in the mix.

If more people start moving to the Unlimited plan (and why wouldn't they) I just hope Orcon increases the data and bandwidth for that 'unlimited pool' of data/bandwidth as I've already noticed massive speed and latency issues on non-P2P downloads and http traffic in peak 'after work' hours (5pm - 7pm) on some days.

So while I'm generally fine with Steam content no longer being zero rated, I do think that the timing is inconvenient to the end user considering they recently also stopped offering their high-speed high-data capped plans.

Sounddude

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#732059 13-Dec-2012 14:22

Hi Guys

Steam has changed the model in how it serves content. Most of the content is now being serverd via HTTP from the Limelight CDN system rather than local caches.

We peer with limelight in Sydney, so I don't think there will be any major performance impacts.

chevrolux

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#732092 13-Dec-2012 15:29

Yah! No more posts from angry gamers with big bills.

NonprayingMantis

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#732094 13-Dec-2012 15:31

I notice you have also removed quickflix, but added Igloo.

presumably the rason for removing quickflix is not the same is steam, but adding Igloo at the same time as removing quickflix seems.....odd. why not keep both?

there have been accusations in the past against Sky that their agreements with other ISPs prohibit them from unmetering competing tv type services like Quickflix (dont know whether that was ever shown to be true or not).

So you choosing to unmeter Igloo (owned by sky) on the same day as removing Quickflix does seem a remarkable coincidence that people might read as being due to similar kinds of agreements that skyhave been accused of in the past. I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation though.

tonyhughes

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#732097 13-Dec-2012 15:37

chevrolux: Yah! No more posts from angry gamers with big bills.

If they have large bills, does that make them birds?

tonyhughes

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#732098 13-Dec-2012 15:40

NonprayingMantis: /snip/ there have been accusations in the past against Sky that their agreements with other ISPs prohibit them from unmetering competing tv type services like Quickflix (dont know whether that was ever shown to be true or not).

So you choosing to unmeter Igloo (owned by sky) on the same day as removing Quickflix does seem a remarkable coincidence that people might read as being due to similar kinds of agreements that skyhave been accused of in the past. I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation though.

Wouldn't an exclusive arrangement with an ISP to the benefit of shareholders be a reasonable explanation?

If every single action by business was in clients favour, then business wouldn't exist. At some point, the shareholders need to be accounted for.

NonprayingMantis

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#732104 13-Dec-2012 15:49

tonyhughes:
NonprayingMantis: /snip/ there have been accusations in the past against Sky that their agreements with other ISPs prohibit them from unmetering competing tv type services like Quickflix (dont know whether that was ever shown to be true or not).

So you choosing to unmeter Igloo (owned by sky) on the same day as removing Quickflix does seem a remarkable coincidence that people might read as being due to similar kinds of agreements that skyhave been accused of in the past. I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation though.

Wouldn't an exclusive arrangement with an ISP to the benefit of shareholders be a reasonable explanation?

If every single action by business was in clients favour, then business wouldn't exist. At some point, the shareholders need to be accounted for.

Possibly, but fans of net neutrality and competition have an inherent dislike for ISPs who favour certian types of traffic over others, which is what unmetering does.

Some people would regard selective unmetering, espcially if pressured into it by sky, as anti-competitive, and expecially when an ISP 'chooses' to unmeter the services of the incumbent TV operator (Sky and Igloo) and not the services of an attacker(s) (quickflix)

but overall i'm with Mauricio here - unmetering ANYTHING should be just gotten rid of and bigger caps used instead. give people the freedom to choose what they use their data on.

ETA: it's probably not so much of an issue when Orcon do it, since they are so small compared to the market, but imagine if Telecom and Vodafone both 'decided' to unmeter iSky, reduced data caps down to max of 40GB and didn't unmeter anything else. Do you think ANY media company (even Netflix) would stand a chance agianst that? No way. That is why unmetering in general is a bad idea IMO. Let the success or failure of a media company be on it's own merits, not on whoever can score the best deal with the large ISPs

tonyhughes

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#732112 13-Dec-2012 15:58

It's just a lower rate for traffic to a destination - just like phone calls and text messages, which are cheaper (or on some plans, free) for certain destinations, vs. the top rate for international.

If my ISP unmeters Igloo, but I want to use Quickflix, it actually doesn't make any difference if I have already factored in the data use.

I've watched data caps and broadband plans change over the years, and think we are getting a pretty good deal these days.

Caps are now certainly in line with general household use, several ISPs are doing rollover data (last time I checked, I had 235GB accumulated).

If Orcon kept up with the market in terms of caps and pricing, and simply added unmetering as a value add, I don't see an issue. If they raised pricing or fell out of line with caps because of it, then there are plenty of ISPs not offering unmetering.

Note: I haven't been an orcon customer for a very long time.

Snackos

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#732189 13-Dec-2012 18:24

Surely you can still keep the same service but just don't advertise it? That way you remove the angry customers but still maintain a useful service.

ronw

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#732406 14-Dec-2012 09:47

I am upset that the zero rating on Quickflix has been removed. I use Quickflix and do not want to find myself running out of data all the time. yes I could increase the data allowance but are already paying Orcon over $100 per month for a basic telephone system and 60Gb data and dont want to keep increasing my monthly bill. It seems anti competitive to line up with Sky and remove Quickflix in the one week.
I guess I will have to look for an alternative to Orcon at some point, fortunately my 1 year restriction on Genius is soon to expire and I am free to move where I get the best deal.

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NonprayingMantis

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#732417 14-Dec-2012 10:17

ronw: I am upset that the zero rating on Quickflix has been removed. I use Quickflix and do not want to find myself running out of data all the time. yes I could increase the data allowance but are already paying Orcon over $100 per month for a basic telephone system and 60Gb data and dont want to keep increasing my monthly bill. It seems anti competitive to line up with Sky and remove Quickflix in the one week.
I guess I will have to look for an alternative to Orcon at some point, fortunately my 1 year restriction on Genius is soon to expire and I am free to move where I get the best deal.

I think Snap unmeter quickflix, and are well regarded on this forum.

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