iBurst's new packages and migration fees

[Dave A]

I need to check our bundled rate with Telkom ADSL, but I seem to recall 3GB on DoBroadband 3 with the line rental and ADSL fee comes to about R550.00 and that's at (up to) 4Mbps speed.

doBroadband 1 which gets you 1GB is only R199.00 - including all the line costs and 384kbps speed.

From there, all you need is top-ups.

[duncan drennan]

DSL definitely scales better than anything else available at the moment

[SilverNodashi]

it's the other way around actually. You need a phone line before you can get ADSL. But like I say, for companies / individuals who have / need a phone line in any case, it works out even cheaper.

It's almost the same as 3G. You can also geat cheap bandwidth rates (50c/MB), IF you have a contract, otherwise you pay R2/MB

[Vincent]

Two years ago when I bought iburst I was paying R195 for 200Mb later when Vodacom dropped their "price" they followed suit; you got 400Mb for R195 - no migration fees. Now for R199 you get 1Gb plus a migration fee. Out of principle I will not pay the fee. I have been a paying customer for two years and I've had to put up with bad service, continuous signal dropping and exuberant, rip-off rates.

Unfortunately iburst are becoming an inefficient organisation that piggybacks on the back of vodamcom's profiteering schemes.

[duncan drennan]

you got 400Mb for R195 - no migration fees. Now for R199 you get 1Gb plus a migration fee.

Vincent, the fee is only payable if the monetary value of the package you move to is lower than the package you were on. So if you were paying R195, and then moved to a R199 package it classifies as an "upward migration" and no fee is payable.

[Vincent]

Duncan, when I phoned their call centre on Friday, I was told I had to pay the fee. Maybe the operator was misinformed. He directed me to a page to download, fill out and fax back to him and had to take a 24 month contract. I told I had a modem, I didn't need another modem, all I wanted was an upgrade. (he was adamant) Got hold of someone late Friday and relaid my tale of woe. Let's see what happens tomorrow...

[Vincent]

Duncan, does the pay-per-usage apply only to new subscribers or does it apply to everyone that uses iBurst? (Ok, found what I was looking for.)

If you are currently on one of the old iBurst Wireless packages, your account will not automatically be provisioned with Pay-per-use. Instead, your data will either be capped or throttled when it is used up.

[duncan drennan]

When you migrate (or join) then you can opt-out of the PPU option, which then puts you onto throttled or capped. I would advise checking the opt-out box (personally) - could add up to one mighty big bill.

[Norri]

What if you're already subscribed, how do you opt-out?

[duncan drennan]

What if you're already subscribed, how do you opt-out?

Do you mean, "Already a subscriber" or "Migrated without opting out" or "New subscriber that did not opt-out"?

As Vincent said, if you are already a subscriber you will just get capped/throttled according to your current plan (I was just throttled today, so that seems to be okay).

For the other cases, I'm not too sure how to change it. Email helpdesk at iburstgroup and ask them. You might just need to full in the migration form to opt-out. The helpdesk is generally...well...helpful.