New vodafone gprs prices

turbo

Has anybody seen the new vodafone prices???

"Viewing Vodafone live! WAP content over GPRS will be charged at 15c per page " for vodafone live mobiles

and

for non vodafone live phones its "5c per page "

Does anybody have any idea of the reason for the big difference??

flywheel

after paying for an inclusive GPRS package (GPRS 3) it appers i'm going to be charged seperately (additionally) for viewing Voda WAP/Live! content over GPRS

have been asking them to answer some questions about how the new charging works but Voda customer care are doing the usual ignore the questions and send back a cut 'n paste response, here's the last one i got:

GPRS per Page billing is a new way that Vodafone will be charging all customers (Prepaid & Postpaid) who access WAP over GPRS, this also includes Vodafone Live! menu.

Customers will be no longer billed per kilobyte for every piece of data they view. All menus will be free to browse, Vodafone WAP/Vodafone Live! content will be charged on a per page basis downloaded and non ? Vodafone content will be charged on a per kilobyte basis.

The definitions of what will be charged have been simplified:
All WAP/live! menus are free.
Customers will only be charged for stories and articles. Customers will be charged at 5c per page (WAP), 15c per page (Live!), regardless of the number of kb that make up the page.
If customers use the search function to view content outside of the standard WAP/ live! services, they will be charged at 2c per kb for all content viewed. Customers will see a page advising them that they are about to leave the Vodafone service area, and the rate at which they will be charged.

The Corinthian

As I’m not a Vodafone Live!ä customer, I wouldn’t be all that familiar with the quality, or size of content, but if it equates to WML based editorial, for the most part, then this would probably be a fairly severe rip-off. On the other hand, if we’re talking about mainly ringtones, wallpaper and games, then this would work out cheaper for the consumer.

Comments?

flywheel

in their most recent answer they said the menus are free so that's something

the only detail they have said so far is the flat rate is for pages of Vodafone content - what exactally is deemed Vodafone Content isn't clear (yet)

items like Live! Ringtones (Eur 4 per download) and Live! Games (Eur 5 per download) etc will still have a per item/download charge

how they factor in their min 10KB GPRS connection charge isn't clear

BrianG

sunbeam

On a related note I noticed that (non GPRS) data call charges were stated as 13c per minute at peak time on the RTG My Vodafone tariffs page. I emailed to check if this was a new tariff and if it applied to HSCSD calls (or if not could they update the page). I was yet again informed of the 'unavailabilty' of the service to RTG customers, despite being told it was a new service when I rang up a few months ago. Nobody has bothered to change the page yet either....

jesus_thats_gre

The cost for each WAP page is actually 5 cent and not 15 cents. The charging only applies to pages that are Vodafone hoested content and that is updated regularly. The normal menus that you browse through to access this updated content are not charged for.

When you access content that is not hosted by Vodafone yu are charged per kilobyte!!!!!!

A way around this is to find the source of the Vodafone hosted content. For example, they offer football score update live during premiership matches. This is got from sky, the best thing to do is to visit the SKy WAP site and its cheaper.

flywheel

according to every email Vodafone have replied to and on the Vodafone site

Vodafone (non-Live!) WAP content is 5c per page
Vodafone Live! WAP content is 15c per page

so it's the 15c per page we are referring to as it seems excessive

do you know if there is a listing / breakdown available of the content that is defined as Vodafone Hosted Content?

also do you know how the min. 10KB per GPRS session charge is now delt with when a GPRS session is opened to the particular access point (live.vodafone.com or wap.vodafone.ie) and only Vodafone content is viewed?

thanks,
BrianG.

jesus_thats_gre

As far as I have been told, the correct charge is 5 cents.

The connection fee still applies regardless what access point or content you are accessing.

The 5cent per page thing only applies to content that is updated. For example the news, sports or horoscopes. When you are leaving the Vodafone hosted content you are advised of it.

flywheel

i hope it's not 15c - but they do seem to differentiate between regular WAP and Live! WAP charges...

details of the Vodafone Content that will be charged per page would be helpful to work out what's being charged for and when

say checking the cinema - after leaving the regular Live! menu by clicking on Cinema Listings - at what point is the charge per page made?

thanks,
BrianG

jesus_thats_gre

You will not be charged until the dynamic page loads up

The Corinthian

It appears to be an implementation of the I-Mode business model - I would guess that there’s a revenue share model, whereby the content provider will get a cut off the charge whenever it’s their content being downloaded. With I-Mode this has translated at an approximately 91% going to the content provider, in Ireland I suspect - given the emphasis that Irish operators have historically placed on encouraging organic growth in content - this percentage will be somewhat lower :rolleyes:

If they are able to encourage significantly better content and applications over this service, then it’s succeed, if not people will use cheaper non Vodafone alternatives or not bother at all.

My 2 cent (not per Kb)...

flywheel

@j_thats_gre:

thanks - they all appear to be dynamic after selecting the location

so is it charged just when a movie's review appears (1 page: 15c)?

or for listing all the movies in the cinema, then a move's times, then the review (3 pages: 45c)?

do you know if there is a list of the exact pages that incur the per page charge available anywhere (would be really helpful)?

BrianG

flywheel

so my first bill with the new GPRS Charges appeared - 15c per page

good to see them breaking it out in the bill as a new item

an example listing is:
Voafone live! Content 2 pages 0.2480
(so with VAT that's 30c)

SubTotals now include Time, GPRS Volume and Total Pages

BrianG

jesus_thats_gre

This is straight from Vodafone support documents!!!

Colour Browsing Cost

Accessing any of the Vodafone live! menus is free,
accessing Vodafone live! content is 15c per page,
accessing non-Vodafone live! content is 2c per 1Kb.
The general rule is that if the content of the Vodafone live! page doesn?t change then it is a menu & therefore free.
Anything accessed through the search facility is non-Vodafone live! content and is charged at 2c per 1Kb.

Examples:
Viewing the live! menu and live! content
If you want to checkup coming Ireland team rugby fixtures or recent results, you should:


Press the live! softkey and connect to live! No charge for viewing the menu icons.
Scroll down the first menu page and select 'More'. No charge for viewing the list of 'More fun and news' services.
Scroll down the menu and select 'Sport'. No charge for viewing the list of available sports services.
Scroll down the Sports menu and select 'Rugby'. Charged 15c for viewing the list of rugby content.
Scroll down to 'Fixtures/Results' and press 'select'. Charged 15c for viewing the list of weekend reports.
Scroll down to ?Ireland?s fixtures? and press 'select'.
Charged 15c for viewing the list of results and details of the fixture.

Viewing non-live! content

If you want to view, say, a WAP site a friend had built, you should:

Press the live! softkey and connect to live! No charge for viewing the menu icons.
Scroll down to 'Help and Search' and press 'select'. No charge for viewing the 'Search and Help' menu.
Scroll to 'Search Google' and press 'select' . No charge for viewing the Pricing Notice.
Scroll to 'Continue' and press 'select' . No charge for viewing the Search Disclaimer.
You will have to agree to the T&Cs for viewing content outside of Vodafone's control.

You enter the URL for your friend's WAP site. No charge.
You access your friend's WAP site. Charged at 2c per kb for viewing your friend's WAP site.

sirlinux

So someone answer this question, are you still charged that stupid connection/minimum charge everytime you connect to gprs, you always get screwed by that if your in a patchy covergae area and it keeps reconnecting when you move to a new page.

flywheel

thanks for the info J,

great to eventually get an answer (you're faster than e-mailing support directly - still waiting for a reply from a week and a half ago about it!)

if what is being termed "Content" is just a dynamic menu then it is way too expensive - taking that rugby session as an example - the only meaningful content is the actual fixtures - so being charged 15c a page for navigating down through the rugby menus to them is too much

there should really have been a leaflet drop in last months bills explaining all this - and some clarification on the website - the current info really doesn't explain it well enough:
"Viewing the Vodafone live! WAP menus over GPRS will be completely FREE, Viewing Vodafone live! WAP content over GPRS will be charged at 15c per page"

it also messes up using the GPRS counter on the phone as a guide to monthly usage

thanks again for the info,
BrianG

jesus_thats_gre

If you wanna be picky about it, I am Vodafone support, well myself and 27 others!!!

flywheel

i said thanks

any way of emailing you direct? - some of my emails to support seem to fall though the net from time to time

BrianG

jesus_thats_gre

I would love to but I am not in the habit of bringing that much work home with me.. I dont mind doing the odd favour though. support@vodafone.ie is the best address!!!!

The Corinthian

And with that, I think this thread has come to it's conclusion.

Closed.