How do meteor charge for data calls?

niallb

Hi,
just switched to Meteor Bill pay last week
from vodafone. Very happy in general,
and their coverage is much better than VodaFone or O2 here in County Meath.

I just got set up for data access over GPRS,
and when I asked how it was billed, the
guy on the phone said "as a local call".

This seems strange for a gprs connection,
and potentially very expensive.
On the other hand, it could be cheaper than
per kb charges in some cases.

Just checked my bill online, and a 2:11 call
is marked down at 53¢ - not on my prepaid minutes (talk 400 plan), and at 20¢ per minute.
2:11 from what point to what point
though...

Is this a billing glitch, to be corrected later?
I also thought "local calls" were included in my plan!

Is there anything I need to change on my account to let it include these calls?

Any users have any comment on the "local call rate" gprs data angle?

Puzzled for now,
NiallB

Random

Is your phone still using "dial-up" WAP ? This is expensive and billed per duration and not download amount.

Most of the newer phones use GPRS WAP though - which is generally billed per KB.

Also, Meteor better coverage then Vodafone or O2 in Meath? Doubtful - there's a good chance you're proberly roaming on O2 there anyway !

niallb

ciaranfo wrote:

Is your phone still using "dial-up" WAP ? This is expensive and billed per duration and not download amount.

Nope. this is GPRS data, using ap isp.mymeteor.ie,
but it shows up on my online bill as "internet access" calls.
In fact, all calls since I had the SIM enabled
are showing up as being billed - not just these calls.
meteor support staff claim a software glitch,
and that I won't actually be charged for the voice calls.

Most of the newer phones use GPRS WAP though - which is generally billed per KB.

Generally yes - which is why I wanted some feedback from
meteor users who have experienced this billing method.
I'm getting really vague information from the support staff.
As gprs can be treated as "always on" by some applications, I don't want to be using it at a per minute rate without clarification.
I'd rather dial in to my ISDN line and back out!

Also, Meteor better coverage then Vodafone or O2 in Meath? Doubtful - there's a good chance you're proberly roaming on O2 there anyway !

I've lived here for three years and been unable to use a mobile. With vodafone, there was a spot in the house the phone would ring, but move it to answer it and it would drop the call.
SMS messages could take days to arrive.

I tried an O2 sim, but it was only marginally better, and only gave coverage in one room.
Like you, I assumed Meteor were piggy backing on O2, and never bothered to try them.

Roll on last week, when a visiting friend with a meteor phone was able to walk around the house while on a call.
I bought a meteor sim the next day, and ported my own number during the week after proving to myself it was true.
I now have clear coverage all through the building, and in several nearby areas that were dead zones with Vodafone such as Kilcloon and Dunsany.

It's not a phone issue either -
all these tests were with the same phones,
Nokia 7650/3650 and SE K700i/K750i.

Thanks for the reply anyway.
Anyone using meteor as an isp ?

NiallB

telecomsman

Can I just clarify a few points here because there seems to be some confusion about Meteor Mobile's National Roaming contract with O2 IE.
Meteor do not "piggy-back" on O2s network, Meteor have a fully serviced network of their own. However in places where they dont have sufficient coverage ie Mayo,Donegal and parts of Sligo.....they do indeed roam on O2s network. The rest of the country is covered by their own sites.

stereo_steve

Go to www.siteviewer.ie and you can see your local mast

niallb

Nice one stereo_steve,
I did that, and it is a meteor mast on Tara that happens to be on the right side of the hill for me.

The other operators' masts are quite hidden from my location.

Good to know,
NiallB

ps. That's coverage. My remaining question
is on the data charges. Anyone? Anyone ever use Meteor for data?

ferryman

I'm a Meteor PAYG customer myself, and get charged EUR2.50 up-front for half a MB's worth of data. This allows multiple GPRS sessions until the allocation has been used up. Don't use GPRS much though TBH, and never exceeded the 512K in any given month. You can find further info on the Meteor website.

http://www.meteor.ie/makethemove/talk_other.html

Bit strange IMO. They mention the half an MB for EUR2.50, and then they say that the charge is EUR0.03 per KB. Perhaps it's EUR0.03 after the allocation is used up? but then there'd need to be a limit on the amount of allocations users could purchase in a given period. hmmm...

Am I missing something here, or are Meteor doing a bad job of publishing the charges?

niallb

Thanks for posting.
I think they're doing a pretty bad job on publishing the charges.

I was assured over the phone that it was a per minute charge, and that's how it's showing up on my online bill.
Could well be different for payg, but they just seemed so vague!

At least the payg tariff is there to read :-)

Anyone on meteor billpay use the service?
Any meteor employee able to point us to the
right section of the website?

ferryman

Niallb,
Those charges aren't exclusively for PAYG customers, by the looks of things - they apply across the board.

"It's the same for all our customers
- Pay As You Go and Bill Pay".
http://www.meteor.ie/makethemove/callcost_tables.html

Your best bet would be to continue ringing the customer care line, sooner or later you're bound to get someone who can clarrify the situation for ya...

Random

"per minute" WAP charges would mean you'd be using an old standard phone that doesn't support GPRS - or so I think ...

niallb

Hi Ciaranfo.
I'm using a brand new phone, and I entered
the isp details myself.

In addition, the data counter on my phone is showing me gprs data transferred in both directions. The timer on that page is within one second of what meteor have billed me for online.
The price is good for browsing, as it was charged as a number of short calls.
It was however, always on during a 3 minute ssh session.

I'm not complaining about the price.
In fact, I think it's great, but I don't want
to end up with a bill that is way out of line with my expectations.

I've been using gprs and hscsd services for quite a few years now, and I've never come across a per minute billing model for gprs.

I'm taking what Meteor support are telling me with a large pinch of salt - the second person at least admitted that she didn't know, and all her supervisor was able to add was that it wouldn't be covered in my package's minutes.

It does however, seem to be backed up by the online bill (although that gets re-estimated every morning). It clearly records the time of each connection as a call.

So, has anyone on billpay meteor received a bill with charges for "Internet Access" incurred
by using a gprs connection, and were they billed per minute?

Thanks everyone who's replied so far.

NiallB

p.s. Thanks Ferryman, but I thought after ringing them several times
that I'd get an answer faster here.

Random

What's your phone model ?

niallb

SE K750i.
Don't see how it's relevant though.

NiallB

Random

I thought it relevent because some phones use dial-up (per minute) wap (such as the 1101), while others use gprs (per KB) as is the case with your k750i.

I'm out of ideas.

niallb

Thanks for the ideas so far.
Guess I'll just have to wait for my bill,
and see how it pans out.
I'll keep you posted.

NiallB

Andy-Pandy

Its 2.50 euro per half meg. Its charged by data downloaded, not by time. I should know. Im the manager of one of the meteor stores

Random

Andy-Pandy wrote:

Im the manager of one of the meteor stores

God help ya

niallb

Andy-Pandy wrote:

Its 2.50 euro per half meg. Its charged by data downloaded, not by time. I should know. Im the manager of one of the meteor stores

Then could you explain to me why my bill
shows entries of calls to "internet access"
with call durations beside them?

The call durations tally exactly with the
"connected time" figure on my phone's gprs data counter.

I have also been told by the 1905 staff
that gprs is charged as a local call.
I started this thread because I found
it hard to believe, and I'd be much happier
to take the opinion of someone who actually
works with phones :-)

Do you have a meteor bill-pay phone, Andy-Pandy?
Do you use the net on your phone?
Could you remember next time you're
looking at a bill, to check how it's recorded?

Thanks for the input, sounds like you're in a
good position to get a final answer to this.

NiallB

stereo_steve

Poor andy.....he's gonna be plagued with questions!!!

Let me start!

1. Do meteor still intend to implend EDGE on their network?

2. Can you please get some decent phones! We're not all teenagers that like flashy lights and flip phones! What about some 3G phones? I realise that you don't have a 3G network but I want to be able to buy a phone with 2megapixel camera and sybian operating system etc..

chrislad

Can you please get some decent phones! We're not all teenagers that like flashy lights and flip phones! What about some 3G phones? I realise that you don't have a 3G network but I want to be able to buy a phone with 2megapixel camera and sybian operating system etc..

I think there's some decent phones at the moment. True there's no Symbian OS's at the moment, none since the 6600, but they do have the K750i and the W800i, not to mention, if you have more money than sense, the 8800.

Andy-Pandy

niallb wrote:

Then could you explain to me why my bill
shows entries of calls to "internet access"
with call durations beside them?

The call durations tally exactly with the
"connected time" figure on my phone's gprs data counter.

I have also been told by the 1905 staff
that gprs is charged as a local call.
I started this thread because I found
it hard to believe, and I'd be much happier
to take the opinion of someone who actually
works with phones :-)

Do you have a meteor bill-pay phone, Andy-Pandy?
Do you use the net on your phone?
Could you remember next time you're
looking at a bill, to check how it's recorded?

Thanks for the input, sounds like you're in a
good position to get a final answer to this.

NiallB

Sorry its taken so long to get back to ya.Only got net access in my ma's. Im guessing that your gprs settings are incorrect and its connecting by csd. Ive pm'd ya with my details. Contact me with you number and ill go through your bill with ya and sort it out..

Andy

niallb

Hi,
it's my first bill, and it hasn't arrived yet.
I'm going by the online bill.
I set up the connection myself, and there
are no csd/hscsd profiles defined which would give internet access.

I'll talk to you tomorrow, thanks for the number.

NiallB

Faltermyer

Meteor Data Services:

GPRS ISP - i.e. for Full Internet browsing, or using an Email client on your phone is charged at €2.50/ 1/2MB (unless you are on a data plan.). You are charged the €2.50 when you first connect, you then use off this allocation of 512KB, when you finish it you are charged a further €2.50 and so on...

GPRS WAP - 3c/KB

These two are mutually exclusive - i.e. two different services which cannot be used simultaneously; and their charging is not linked.

@niallb - let me explain your confusion over your bill.

In order to simplify bill printing/storage, all details are listed in terms of mins/seconds.

However, with GPRS based services(GPRS WAP or GPRS ISP) you translate this into KB by each second representing one KB.

So, if you see:
1:20 - as in 1min 20seconds, then this is 80KB (60 + 20).

Youre welcome!

alantc

Faltermyer wrote:

Meteor Data Services:

GPRS ISP - i.e. for Full Internet browsing, or using an Email client on your phone is charged at €2.50/ 1/2MB (unless you are on a data plan.). You are charged the €2.50 when you first connect, you then use off this allocation of 512KB, when you finish it you are charged a further €2.50 and so on...

GPRS WAP - 3c/KB

These two are mutually exclusive - i.e. two different services which cannot be used simultaneously; and their charging is not linked.

@niallb - let me explain your confusion over your bill.

In order to simplify bill printing/storage, all details are listed in terms of mins/seconds.

However, with GPRS based services(GPRS WAP or GPRS ISP) you translate this into KB by each second representing one KB.

So, if you see:
1:20 - as in 1min 20seconds, then this is 80KB (60 + 20).

I'm still confused! I called meteor and the girl didn't seem to know much.

What do I have to do to get charged €2.50/.5Mb?

I used wap last week and got charged €4.98 when all I did was view an item on ebay.

I'm using a SE w800i.

Thanks. I'll def. start using data on the phone if it's that cheap (compared to what I expected!)

niallb

Faltermyer wrote:

Meteor Data Services:
@niallb - let me explain your confusion over your bill.

In order to simplify bill printing/storage, all details are listed in terms of mins/seconds.

However, with GPRS based services(GPRS WAP or GPRS ISP) you translate this into KB by each second representing one KB.

So, if you see:
1:20 - as in 1min 20seconds, then this is 80KB (60 + 20).

Youre welcome!

Hi Faltermeyer,
I'm not confused - as I said, I haven't received my first bill yet - I just don't believe what I was told over the phone, but I was given a simple statement of how GPRS was charged for.

When I have it to hand, I'm planning on ringing Andy Pandy if that's still OK with him, and getting him to double check the items.
I would have rung over the weekend, but without the bill it seemed a bit pointless.

I was simply looking for confirmation as I was told very clearly by Meteor (1905) that internet access was billed as a local call.

I let the rep know that I didn't believe him,
and he said he confirmed it with his supervisor, and then told me that you only get per kilobyte data charges if you buy a meteor data card (which won't work in a computer, only in a laptop...).

It sounded like bull, but he was so adamant that I decided to post here to get it cleared up.
What you describe is not - unless you can
guarantee a data rate of 1kb per second!

I appreciate what you're saying, and it makes
some sense, but had I trusted what I was told
on the phone I could have run up quite a serious bill.

My other concern was really being charged per minute using gprs which can be considered "always on".

Until then,
NiallB

Faltermyer

alantc wrote:

I'm still confused! I called meteor and the girl didn't seem to know much.

What do I have to do to get charged €2.50/.5Mb?

You have to set up an ISP profile on your handset, not a WAP one.
Create a new Connection Profile) and only fill in the section for "APN"/"Access Point Name". This section should have isp.mymeteor.ie
-On SE handsets thats usually in "Connectivity" - "Data Comm" - "New". Name it "Meteor ISP" and input the APN as above.

Then create a "WAP Profile"(also in "Connectivity") and leave all fields blank except for the "Data Profile/Data Comm" - set this to Meteor ISP as created above.

Then set that WAP Profile as Default.
But be aware that this profile may not allow you to view WAP pages, though it probably will.

If you have problems with this let me know as most phones will connect with just the above - SonyEricssons need some more details sometimes though.

alantc wrote:

I used wap last week and got charged €4.98 when all I did was view an item on ebay.

I'm using a SE w800i.

Thanks. I'll def. start using data on the phone if it's that cheap (compared to what I expected!)

An Ebay item will contain numerous photos and lots of images which when billed at the WAP(i.e. not ISP) rate of 2c/KB will be expensive.


What you have to take into account here is that WAP was designed for much more basic handsets than yours - handsets which could not display full-feature webpages - consequently they only use WAP pages which are much lighter - i.e. less/smaller images and content - meaning less data and therefore not outrageously priced.

Faltermyer

niallb wrote:

Hi Faltermeyer,
I'm not confused - as I said, I haven't received my first bill yet - I just don't believe what I was told over the phone, but I was given a simple statement of how GPRS was charged for.

I was simply looking for confirmation as I was told very clearly by Meteor (1905) that internet access was billed as a local call.

I let the rep know that I didn't believe him,
and he said he confirmed it with his supervisor, and then told me that you only get per kilobyte data charges if you buy a meteor data card (which won't work in a computer, only in a laptop...).

It sounded like bull, but he was so adamant that I decided to post here to get it cleared up.
What you describe is not - unless you can
guarantee a data rate of 1kb per second!

I appreciate what you're saying, and it makes
some sense, but had I trusted what I was told
on the phone I could have run up quite a serious bill.

I meant confused over what may show on MyMeteor or your Bill for GPRS charges.

With regards to your experience on 1905 - level of knowledge/understanding/training can vary a lot unfortunately.
To be honest, if you have doubts over something like that you would be best to email Meteor - that way your query will most likely be run by a Technician first.

Sam Vimes

good old meteor. i don't know what they're full of but its not information. how the hell can the customer care for a large company leave a customer with the answer "i don't know" for something as simple as the cost of wap! or anything for that matter. they're job is to provide answers.

anywho, i just checked three times last month that i used gprs and if i multiplied the time by 3, i got the cost: 4 "seconds" cost 12c, 27 "seconds" cost 81c and 52 "seconds" cost 1.56
my theory is that the "time" listed for gprs is actually kb but they wanted it to fit into the same table while simultaneously confusing people. i'm fairly sure of this because it backs up what the website says about 3c/kb

Faltermyer

Eh, didnt I say in my post in November:

Faltermyer wrote:

In order to simplify bill printing/storage, all details are listed in terms of mins/seconds.

However, with GPRS based services(GPRS WAP or GPRS ISP) you translate this into KB by each second representing one KB.

So, if you see:
1:20 - as in 1min 20seconds, then this is 80KB (60 + 20).

Sam Vimes

Faltermyer wrote:

Eh, didnt I say in my post in November:

i didn't notice. why resurrect a thread from november