Forum Home
PC World Chat
Thread ID: 82792	2007-09-08 06:06:00	High Data charges for NZ mobiles	cafeg (12733)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
589239	2007-09-08 06:06:00	We just went on a month trip to Thailand and I took an I-mate jasjam PDA with me with windows mobile on it to use for internet access. I was very suprised by the cheap pricing structure for gprs/3g data access you could sign up for from 12call/AIS or DTAC mobile phone companies in Thailand. You pick your plan for mobile data access and its gets taken off your remaining prepay balance. They charge by the time spent accessing the network not the data used.. I started off with 20hrs a month for 100baht = $4.00NZD Which I used up in the first week and switched to a higher plan. 100hrs a month for 350baht = $14.50NZD which was plenty as I still had over 2000minutes left after 3 weeks. If needed I could have gone up to and unlimited minutes access plan for 1000baht per month = $41.00NZD I used the internet, sent emails, took pictures and emailed them to everyone while driving down the road, on the boat, in my hotel room in fact everywhere in Thailand that I had mobile phone access even with only one signal bar on the phone.. It was slow at times as it was mostly using gprs out of bangkok but still acceptable to use. I used the i-mate jasjam the whole time without visting an internet cafe once ! I’m too scared to use it here connected up to vodafone now I’m back due to the data pricing structure not the access time pricing structure used here.. I’d happily pay vodafone or telecom for access time not data as I’m sure most would if they changed to time accessed not data transferred !! I keep reading about how they both say it would slow the network down as data is very expensive to send over mobiles and that people would sit there with bitcomet and download etc.. This is rubbish.. Most would probably use their mobiles for web browsing and email not filesharing due to limited space on mobiles and speeds.. I'm sure they can block all the filesharing if they want to anyway! Why cant Telecom or Vodafone do the same thing here with charges for access instead of data as it is easily done cheaply in asian countries ?? and in a country with 245 million population as thailand has compared to our 4 million population. Everyone over there has a mobile and uses it more than landlines. Even the mobile phone charges are a fraction of the cost here. Mobile calls around thailand cost 3 baht per minute = 12.5centsNZ a minute International calls to anywhere are 20 baht a minute = 83 centsNZ per minute They charge by the minute for mobile call access so why can't they charge by the minute for mobile data access as well instead of how much you transfer ??? It would be interesting to find out how much a voice or video call uses on the mobile network compared to data access in short bursts from a mobile that once it has the data disconnects until it needs more data sent to it such as you would have with internet and email access from your mobile phone.. If that can be done over there, why not here in NZ. It must be profitable for the mobile companies over there to have this pricing structure.. We are certainly way behind in pricing structures compared to other countries in the world. Steve..	cafeg (12733)
589240	2007-09-08 06:29:00	You answered your own question. We don't have enough people to economically justify the high capital infrastructure costs of building faster networks or making data/calls cheaper because we don't have volume to trade for lower prices. Plus, they don't actually care. If they can charge us more, which profit making company on Earth wouldn't?	beeswax34 (63)
589241	2007-09-08 08:05:00	I wonder if I will see cheap mobile call pricing during my lifetime	Ninjabear (2948)
589242	2007-09-08 09:07:00	Not in this country.	beeswax34 (63)
589243	2007-09-08 09:18:00	I wonder if I will see cheap mobile call pricing during my lifetime How old are you ?? PJ:rolleyes:	Poppa John (284)
589244	2007-09-08 09:22:00	I wonder if I will see cheap mobile call pricing during my lifetime Give it a year or 2	winmacguy (3367)
589245	2007-09-08 09:39:00	I don't see a problem with high(er) charges than overseas. I noticed there was an article in the NZ Herald today whining about Telecom's charges being higher than overseas. Tough - that's NZ. 4 million people spaced out over a large area of rugged terrain means that infrastructure costs are naturally going to be higher. To be perfectly honest, as long as the speeds are as promised, I don't mind paying what I'm paying now for broadband internet with a data cap. I think it's completely reasonable, given the limitations we face being so far away.	somebody (208)
589246	2007-09-08 10:31:00	How old are you ?? PJ:rolleyes: Take a guess?lol!!If you guess right.I send you a lollipop	Ninjabear (2948)
589247	2007-09-08 10:33:00	I don't see a problem with high(er) charges than overseas. I noticed there was an article in the NZ Herald today whining about Telecom's charges being higher than overseas. Tough - that's NZ. 4 million people spaced out over a large area of rugged terrain means that infrastructure costs are naturally going to be higher. To be perfectly honest, as long as the speeds are as promised, I don't mind paying what I'm paying now for broadband internet with a data cap. I think it's completely reasonable, given the limitations we face being so far away. While I agree with the rugged and spacious terrain that doesn't mean that telecom and vodafone should sit there and do nothing.If thats the case we would've died in the ice age.It was too cold lets just sit and die	Ninjabear (2948)
589248	2007-09-08 11:01:00	While I agree with the rugged and spacious terrain that doesn't mean that telecom and vodafone should sit there and do nothing.If thats the case we would've died in the ice age.It was too cold lets just sit and die There was an article in the paper saying that vodafone was not interested in investing further in NZ, on their 3G network, due to it not being worth it with regulation due to take effect. Currently their 3G network offers very limited coverage.	rogerp (6864)
1 2