Reasonable GPRS fees

[BeachJamJm]

GPRS fees have generated a lot of discussion in recent times with many persons vexed with digicel and many more wondering what c&w is up to...

GPRS or similar widely-available wireless networking technology is essential in this era ... the million dollar question is how much would consumers consider fair to pay for the service... we have to be realistic, telecoms r in the business to make money, but they can't do this if they alienate the customers. Right?

so i think we should come up with some formulas for charging for the service. we could keep in mind data transfer rate; megs downloaded; prepaid vs postpaid packaging; over phone or pc card access; or other determinant u can come up with in ur pricing.

You can look at what digicel ( http://www.digiceljamaica.com/tariffs/index.php?pa=mobileweb ) and c&w ( http://www.cwmobile.com/jamaica/bMobilePlansOptions.asp#5 ) have as their planned rates.

so What do you think is a good pricing plan for GPRS use in Jamaica?

[Booma]

The thing is, compared to the UK at least, the local operators may say that they are dishing it out cheap. Over here ur looking at an average of about £4 per meg.... u do the currency conversion :s.
At the very least, I think that a good price plan for gprs would be to match (maybe 10% more at most) regular dial up rates for pretty much unlimited use (doesn't include downloading non stop). How much do regular dial up rates go for?

[bloggins]

Guys, while there can be no comparison between the European markets and the markets in the caribbean (when you take into account the income and other social situations that exist here and there) but one cannot turn a blind eye to it. The fact is, that compared to anywhere else in the world both Digicel and CW have unbelievable rates for GPRS when you look at what it cost to deliver the service.

[Booma]

Yeah, I know there is no comparison. I only mentioned that as maybe a possible explanation as to why the rates are so high in Ja. u say unbelievable.... unbelievably high or low? I take it u mean high but its not good to assume when unsure.
about how much does regular dial up go for?
BTW, isnt it reasonable to think that if the rates were low enuff, people would use gprs for all there browsing and forget about getting CW landlines? Especially the added portability of it for guys with laptops and PDAs. These guys are sitting on potential goldmines if they priced it right.
Ever since I sent a test EMAIL via my pda on gprs and lost £3 of credit in like 100 seconds, I vowed never to use it again in its present form. Income from me to provider = 0. If it was priced reasonably, income from me to provider should be >0.

[nder]

I think that the telecom providers in Ja have the challenge of offering cutting edge service but have such a small market that they can't make returns based on voulme alone, but have to focus on pricing. In larger countries they can price the service pretty cheaply and make back their money from volume. I'm not sure how well that will work in Ja. Yeah, us techies will use the service like crazy, but the general populace (the majority of Digi and CWs customers) dont really care for such novelties.

However, on the flipside, if they price it right then the people who do use it will use it with abandon and make them rich. :eusa_thin

[Greatis]

To be honest you guys strike up a good point. What we don't realize here in Ja that we are getting away with our phone rates. They are very cheap if a comparison should be made.

[tech_guru]

I think that the telecom providers in Ja have the challenge of offering cutting edge service but have such a small market that they can't make returns based on voulme alone, but have to focus on pricing. In larger countries they can price the service pretty cheaply and make back their money from volume. I'm not sure how well that will work in Ja. Yeah, us techies will use the service like crazy, but the general populace (the majority of Digi and CWs customers) dont really care for such novelties.

However, on the flipside, if they price it right then the people who do use it will use it with abandon and make them rich. :eusa_thin
Like the man said....

I could not agree more...

[bloggins]

Yeah, I know there is no comparison. I only mentioned that as maybe a possible explanation as to why the rates are so high in Ja. u say unbelievable.... unbelievably high or low? I take it u mean high but its not good to assume when unsure.
about how much does regular dial up go for?
BTW, isnt it reasonable to think that if the rates were low enuff, people would use gprs for all there browsing and forget about getting CW landlines? Especially the added portability of it for guys with laptops and PDAs. These guys are sitting on potential goldmines if they priced it right.
Ever since I sent a test EMAIL via my pda on gprs and lost £3 of credit in like 100 seconds, I vowed never to use it again in its present form. Income from me to provider = 0. If it was priced reasonably, income from me to provider should be >0.
Check this out and then you will see what i mean, and this is not the most expensive carrier in Europe, in fact they are on the cheaper side.
http://www.vodafone.ie/dataservices/gprs/prices/index.jsp

[BeachJamJm]

Check this out and then you will see what i mean, and this is not the most expensive carrier in Europe, in fact they are on the cheaper side.
http://www.vodafone.ie/dataservices/gprs/prices/index.jsp

at those rates i REALLY wonder who uses gprs :eusa_doh: . the mobile operators clearly are not going for volume but niche and prestige pricing which i suppose will rule out many of the guys who have been clogging (or is it hogging :eusa_sile) the system.

c&w said they will b charging flat rate access as of next Monday (postpaid) ... i suppose we will see what that amounts to. i for one would love to continue with the service but only if the price is good enuff to balance for the slower data rate (3 channels - 27kbps d/l; 1 channel - 9kbps u/l reversible) and my pocket. gprs shld not be more than 25% maximum above unlimited dialup and that extra is for the flexibility. of course if they add more channels to up the speed then tiered pricing would b ok by me.

anyone knows what the new flat rate will be?