Vodafone 3G Pricing Leaked - APC Mag

Quote article at:
http://www.apcmag.com/apc/v3.nsf/0/B...2570A80027A585

"APC has obtained Vodafone's 3G wireless internet pricing three days in
advance of its official launch. The pricing savagely undercuts other
wireless competitors such as BigPond Wireless, Dan Warne reports.

From this Monday, Vodafone will offer its customers a variety of 3G wireless
internet plans, including:
$2.95 for 0.5MB per month
$9.95 for 2MB
$19.95 for 5MB
$29.95 for 100MB
$49.95 for 300MB
$99 for 'unlimited' (Vodafone may slow or suspend access after 1GB, though
in the past it has not enforced the 500MB limit on its 2G GPRS internet
access)
This pricing is significantly lower than most mobile network competitors.
BigPond, for example, charges $99 for its (admittedly superior coverage)
BigPond Wireless CDMA EV-DO service at a slower speed (256Kbit/s), while 3G
operator Three charges $69.95 for a 300MB plan, or $129 for a 1GB plan.

The speed of the service is up to 384Kbit/s, but like most mobile network
wireless internet standards, speed may decrease if a mobile cell is being
heavily used by other mobile users.

However, this speed will be increased dramatically within 12 months as Optus
and Vodafone (who are sharing the same 3G network) move to a new wireless
data standard called High Speed Download Packet Access (HSDPA), which will
allow the two telcos to effectively compete against WiMax and iBurst.
"You can do 384 right now through 3G, but as we upgrade to HSDPA in the next
year or so that will go up to a meg or more," Chris Lane, Group Director,
Products & Delivery for Optus Consumer, told APC.

Home broadband via 3G
Vodafone will also offer a Linksys WiFi home router that will allow a
Vodafone 3G PCMCIA card to be plugged in and the net access shared around
the home.
Optus' Lane says Vodafone will not be able to lower prices to ADSL levels,
though, because it does not have enough 3G network capacity to support that
level of takeup.

"If they got broad uptake, they'd have to build a hell of a lot more base
stations than they're building today and the cost of that would be
prohibitive," he said.
Roam if you want to

Vodafone's 3G coverage is limited to Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra
initially, with airport-only coverage in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
Elsewhere, you'll roam onto Vodafone's 2G GSM network through 40Kbit/s GPRS.

Unlike Three's 3G wireless data pricing, Vodafone won't charge users a
higher rate if they roam off the 3G network and onto regular 2G GPRS. This
is a significant advantage, as all 3G networks will have limited coverage
areas for some time.

Vodafone has also made good on its promise to slash global roaming rates,
which is excellent news for anyone who travels. Roaming now costs 1c/KB
(which translates to $10/MB) - still extortionately expensive, but at least
it's now only half as expensive as it was before.

Additionally, there is no 'minimum session fee' or 'connection fee' on
Vodafone's 3G network for usage within Australia. These fees can
substantially increase bills if users frequently connect/disconnect from
their mobile internet service."

voda's GPRS rates for 2G are now extortionately expensive for 5 min block
session times.

my fone doesnt even log timebased for GPRS...only data based which is as it
should be.


"Nola Jean McKenzie" <dontbother@emailing.me> wrote in message
news:4362d462@duster.adelaide.on.net...
> Quote article at:
> http://www.apcmag.com/apc/v3.nsf/0/B...2570A80027A585
>


> Additionally, there is no 'minimum session fee' or 'connection fee' on
> Vodafone's 3G network for usage within Australia. These fees can
> substantially increase bills if users frequently connect/disconnect from
> their mobile internet service."
>


I choose Polesoft Lockspam to fight spam, and you?
http://www.polesoft.com/refer.html

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 11:43:55 +1100, "alx"
<alxnews@agCAPPSOUTbuzz.com.au> wrote:

>voda's GPRS rates for 2G are now extortionately expensive for 5 min block
>session times.
>
>my fone doesnt even log timebased for GPRS...only data based which is as it
>should be.
>
>
>"Nola Jean McKenzie" <dontbother@emailing.me> wrote in message
>news:4362d462@duster.adelaide.on.net...
>> Quote article at:
>> http://www.apcmag.com/apc/v3.nsf/0/B...2570A80027A585
>>
>
>
>> Additionally, there is no 'minimum session fee' or 'connection fee' on
>> Vodafone's 3G network for usage within Australia. These fees can
>> substantially increase bills if users frequently connect/disconnect from
>> their mobile internet service."
>>
>
>
>I choose Polesoft Lockspam to fight spam, and you?
>http://www.polesoft.com/refer.html
>

They have really, really lost the plot here..

A User wrote:
> On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 11:43:55 +1100, "alx"
> <alxnews@agCAPPSOUTbuzz.com.au> wrote:
>
>>voda's GPRS rates for 2G are now extortionately expensive for 5 min block
>>session times.
>>
>>my fone doesnt even log timebased for GPRS...only data based which is as it
>>should be.
>>
>>"Nola Jean McKenzie" <dontbother@emailing.me> wrote in message
>>news:4362d462@duster.adelaide.on.net...
>>
>>>Quote article at:
>>>http://www.apcmag.com/apc/v3.nsf/0/B...2570A80027A585
>>
>>>Additionally, there is no 'minimum session fee' or 'connection fee' on
>>>Vodafone's 3G network for usage within Australia. These fees can
>>>substantially increase bills if users frequently connect/disconnect from
>>>their mobile internet service."
>>
>>I choose Polesoft Lockspam to fight spam, and you?
>>http://www.polesoft.com/refer.html
>
> They have really, really lost the plot here..

I'd say at a guess they are trying to make up for lost revenue from when
GPRS was free on a Pre-Paid account with no credit!



--
The views I present are my own and NOT of any organisation I belong to.

73 de Simon, VK3XEM.
http://www.aca.gov.au/pls/radcom/cli...IENT_NO=157452
VoIP http://www.TALKonIP.com.au/
Domain Hosting http://www.GizNet.com/

Any information regarding Greg can be sent to intruder@vk3xem.net

http://online.vodafone.co.uk/dispatc...pageID=GM_0208

Voda UK dont even charge GPRS on timebased...."GPRS .....permanently
connected...only charges when sending or receiving... no charge when reading
thbrough a downloaded page...."



"A User" <serge-newnew2715@mailblocks.com> wrote in message
news:40a9m1pjirne3m0jv1dukh76ighiid2cq0@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 11:43:55 +1100, "alx"
> <alxnews@agCAPPSOUTbuzz.com.au> wrote:
>
>>voda's GPRS rates for 2G are now extortionately expensive for 5 min block
>>session times.
>>
>>my fone doesnt even log timebased for GPRS...only data based which is as
>>it
>>should be.
>>
>>
>>"Nola Jean McKenzie" <dontbother@emailing.me> wrote in message
>>news:4362d462@duster.adelaide.on.net...
>>> Quote article at:
>>> http://www.apcmag.com/apc/v3.nsf/0/B...2570A80027A585
>>>
>>
>>
>>> Additionally, there is no 'minimum session fee' or 'connection fee' on
>>> Vodafone's 3G network for usage within Australia. These fees can
>>> substantially increase bills if users frequently connect/disconnect from
>>> their mobile internet service."
>>>
>>
>>
>>I choose Polesoft Lockspam to fight spam, and you?
>>http://www.polesoft.com/refer.html
>>
>
> They have really, really lost the plot here..