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[IT]DSL plan for light users with no monthly subscription fee

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  • 09-05-2003 10:25am
    #1
    zz03
    Closed Accounts Posts: 255 ✭✭


    Telecom Italia has announced its intention to launch a pre-paid digital subscriber line (DSL) service in the domestic Italian market.

    The company said that the DSL product, which allows high-speed internet access, would cost subscribers €100 to activate. Some 25 hours of broadband access would be included in the initial €100 charge and each further block of 25 hours will cost €50.

    'We will be charging pre-paid users more than pay-per-users because we are eliminating the monthly fee,' Telecom Italia executive Riccardo Ruggiero said.

    Ruggiero added that the pre-paid DSL product would be aimed at consumers who are not heavy users of the internet.

    http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=16245


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    #2
    dahamsta
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 16,659 ✭✭✭✭dahamsta


    http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,950917,00.html
    Pay as you go
    Metronet has become the first ISP to offer a form of pay as you go broadband net access in the UK. Whereas its rivals offer unlimited access with a fixed fee, Metronet's service bills users on the amount of data they download.

    Its cheapest option, PayGo500, costs £10 per month and offers traditional broadband download speeds of 512kbps and uploads of 256kbps. Users can download up to 200MB per month free, thereafter they pay an additional 2.3p per megabyte. The service is capped so the maximum a user can pay on this tariff is £23.99 per month no matter how much they download.

    Metronet is also offering one and two megabit services. The systems runs via BT's ADSL exchanges so won't be available to all users.
    www.metronet.co.uk


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    #3
    BoneCollector
    Closed Accounts Posts: 512 ✭✭✭BoneCollector


    that sounds expensive! to me:ninja:
    you no longer have the always on option either :eek:
    iF it was €15 then maybe!??


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    #4
    zz03
    Closed Accounts Posts: 255 ✭✭zz03


    Originally posted by BoneCollector
    that sounds expensive! to me:ninja:
    you no longer have the always on option either :eek:
    iF it was €15 then maybe!??

    One needs to separate the technology (DSL) from the users' needs.

    It seems to me that there is a myth in Ireland that DSL is for heavy users (ONLY) who want to be online "all the time".

    Some people may have enough (too much?) of the "always on" experience via their mobile phones!

    You will have other people who don't want to spend hours online every week, but when they do, they want a good quality experience - which requires some form of broadband.

    People who have second homes and don't want to have to downgrade to dial-up at the secondary location may also prefer not to enter a fixed monthly commitment for a house that might be unused for several months at a time.

    The math is fairly simple for the average consumer. If flat rate costs €30 per month and pay as you go costs €2 per hour, you will want to upgrade if you find yourself spending more than 15h per month on a regular and ongoing basis.

    Perhaps the ideal pre-pay solution would give the customer the option of (a) pay by time or (b) pay by volume of traffic?


    zz..


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    #5
    LFCFan
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators Posts: 3,816 Mod ✭✭✭✭LFCFan


    The service is capped so the maximum a user can pay on this tariff is £23.99 per month no matter how much they download.

    Does this not mean you could just download gigs of data and still only pay £23.99 a month. Sees fairly cheap to me.


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    #6
    zz03
    Closed Accounts Posts: 255 ✭✭zz03


    Originally posted by LFCFan
    Does this not mean you could just download gigs of data and still only pay £23.99 a month. Sees fairly cheap to me.

    That's about €35 pm - hardly "cheap" - except in the context of rip-off Ireland!

    If you compare it with other services (eg basic cable / satellite TV) that the consumer is used to paying for every month - it is on the high side. In France where you have competition between satellite platforms, the monthly subscription ranges from €17.50 for basic "Thematic" offer to €33 for "Maxima" - aimed at TV addicts.

    Anything above that and a product or service will not enjoy widespread use IMHO.

    zz..


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    #7
    LFCFan
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators Posts: 3,816 Mod ✭✭✭✭LFCFan


    Originally posted by zz03
    That's about €35 pm - hardly "cheap" - except in the context of rip-off Ireland!

    You know what I mean. In relative terms to what we pay now it's cheaper.


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    #8
    zz03
    Closed Accounts Posts: 255 ✭✭zz03


    Originally posted by LFCFan
    You know what I mean. In relative terms to what we pay now it's cheaper.

    Which is why I said "except in the context of rip-off Ireland!"

    zz..


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