Vodacom BIS Cap Introduced

[Stuart]

Vodacom will throttle the speeds of their BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) subscribers who exceed 100MB of usage per month from 3G to 2G.

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FAIL!

Vodacom said that steps have been taken to ensure that the 95% of the BlackBerry users who are currently using the service fairly are not impacted by “those who are abusing the service”.

So "abuse" is defined as north of 100MB per month, and 95% of BIS are NOT abusing the service. In other words, 95% of BIS users in 2011 are using less than 100MB per month! What a load of turd! Must Vodacom treat its customers like complete idiots?

[rustypup]

Must Vodacom treat its customers like complete idiots?

Yes!... primarily because they are?

do you have any more of these... i love answering...

a small number of BIS subscribers i know have been running around bragging to all and sundry how they're downloading multiple GBs for *free* - (mostly rubbish or warez they would not normally consider... but it's *FREE* )

now they're to be soft-capped and we have "what madness is this!?! how dare they!" maybe they're working toward a sustained 3G service as opposed to the wildly fluctuating one we have now...

<human collective>
boo-hoo
</human collective>

for the record, 95% of BIS users apparently understand that using your phone as the primary browsing device is backward...

[Stuart]

Oh come one rusty, even your expert trolling can't justify this one. The average user will exceed 100MB per month just by setting up push email on BIS.

I fully understand their intention, and am in complete agreement that BIS users who download gigabytes worth of data every month deserve to be capped, but there is just no way in hell that they can claim that 95% of their users use less than 100MB per month.

Do you use less than 100MB per month on your BB? (I am assuming based on your rigid defence of BB in the past that you in fact are a BB user.)

[Anakha56]

This is funny...

All the people at my work who use BIS for youtube vids because "its free" are in for a real treat...

I am curious is it the cell providers who pay for all the bandwidth or does RIM have some input in it as well? Just wondering of their lose in market share is causing them to tighten the belts which would have an effect on all their services...

[Stuart]

Let's face it: This has been coming for a long time. Anyone who has used BIS for browsing knows the need for this. But they've taken it a little too far methinks.

[Bladerunner]

All the people at my work who use BIS for youtube vids because "its free" ...

It's never been free. If you play a youtube video, you get a warning saying that it's not covered by BIS.

[rustypup]

your expert trolling

we really need to clarify here that "saying something i disagree with" does not equate to "trolling"... this trend appears to be growing around here and really needs to be nipped in the bud before the fallacy becomes entrenched.

secondly, if i'm blowing 100MB in bandwidth, it's not on mail. BB units pull header info only. attachments and images only travel on request. 100MB is a tonne of text...

[Mr_Norris]

Its throttling.

Not capping.

Once you reach 100 megs, you go from 3G to 2G.

[Bladerunner]

Its throttling.

Not capping.

Once you reach 100 megs, you go from 3G to 2G.

Rendering your connection useless.

[DeathStrike]

Its throttling.

Not capping.

Once you reach 100 megs, you go from 3G to 2G.

Rendering your connection useless.

At first i read the article and would have jumped in and said haw dare they...

but after thinking about it i don't see the problem.

95% of the bb users out there are still on the older 8520 curve models... which only has an EDGE aka 2G connection regardless. so it's only those that have the faster 3G connection like the bold users and the torch users. and the newer 9300 curves.

EDIT: Besides if you not happy with that service then port over to cell c or mtn or 8ta. all of them now offer BB with BIS. Vodacom will then see that they have upset their subscribers.

although i do think that 100MB is bit low. i would have made it 500 MB. gives them some freedom. and it makes it much more worth it for the R60 you pay every month.

Vodacom will throttle the speed of BlackBerry users who exceed 100MB of data usage per month. MTN and 8ta may do the same, but Cell C has no such plans.

Source

[Stuart]

Its throttling.

Not capping.

Once you reach 100 megs, you go from 3G to 2G.

Have you ever been "throttled" by a South African ISP?

Edit: From your link:

Vodacom has defended its decision to throttle the download speeds of BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) users who download more than 100MB/month, saying some users were exceeding 100GB of data in a 30-day period using BlackBerry smartphones.

Again, FAIL! So some guys are abusing it by using 100GB and their solution is to set the limit to 100MB? Lol! Vodacom have done some truly stupid things in the past, but this really takes the cake!

we are certain that the vast majority of them that do not abuse the service will appreciate this.

Really?

[Slimshaedy]

I'm using A BB right now, its A 8520 curve that's doesn't pick up edge in Pinetown so I use GPRS. All images are downscaled and my phone has a 5MB download cap on it. I surf the web everyday and I seriously doubt I come close to 100MB. So the normal 3G users won't even know About the "cap" because I don't think they would reach 100MB.

I think the 5MB download cap can be removed by using a different browser or something to that effect. And video streaming isn't covered by BIS. I connect to the router via Wi-Fi And then its free:)
And the phone can't be used as a modem through BIS. Unless someone hacked it

[SykomantiS]

Just remember, a user connectred to 3G can literally browse more (thus download more) than you can on GRPS in the same time span- thus making it easier to reach than 100mb mark.

[Stuart]

And the phone can't be used as a modem through BIS. Unless someone hacked it

From Mr_Norris' link . . .

Explaining how users have circumvented the system, Delport says “certain Internet sites allow users to download video clips using progressive download mechanisms”.

“Over and above this, there is software that allows the tethering of BlackBerry devices onto computers, which exacerbates the situation,” he says.

[Bladerunner]

Bullcrap, bullcrap, bullcrap, straight from Voda's CEO :
Vodacom CEO explains BlackBerry plans

[Stuart]

Bullcrap, bullcrap, bullcrap, straight from Voda's CEO :
Vodacom CEO explains BlackBerry plans

Lol, nice cover up.

"Oops, maybe it was a bad idea. Hey, let's just deny it ever happened and start looking for more reasonable solutions."

[Bladerunner]

I think the damage has been done already.