233 Tech.

Vodafone broadband service change. Better or Worse?

Posted on 11. Dec, 2009 by Nana Kwabena Owusu in Real Tech, Unwired

Vodafone Ghana has made changes to its fixed line broadband service which went into effect as of December 1,2009. The main changes are; Speeds (the speed for existing tiers all went up) and Data transfer Limits. Yes, people your broadband is no longer a buffet but a fixed plate service. Here are the new service tiers.

I got to know about this through a tweet from @Kwabena and my reaction was, Oh NO!! I hate data caps especially when they are imposed immediately speeds on internet services are increased.

Why? Well because now you can watch Youtube videos without the buffer issue but you are afraid to watch lest your cap is exceeded.  Its similar to buying a Ferrari for folks in a town with horrible roads.

Lets put my personal feelings aside, take a fact based view of this and maybe with logic we can make a better conclusion. Here is what I dug up.

I drew up a Comparison Table (Hint: Zoom in or view in fullscreen for best views) for Vodafone services in UK, Egypt, Iceland and Malta and discuss the issues below. I would have liked to include India but I was finding it difficult locating information about fixed line (DSL, ADSL) broadband.

1. Pricing  & Data Restrictions

Looking at the above costs I think Ghana has one of the highest charges with the maximum amount of restrictions. What do I mean? For example, GHC 65.00 approximately gets;

• Ghana:       512Kbps / 10GB Data transfer
• UK:              8 Mbps  /   Unlimited Data transfer
• Egypt:        2Mbps  /    60GB Data transfer
• Iceland:    12Mbps / 30GB  Data transfer (plus additional mobile internet)
• Malta:        5 Mbps /  Unlimited Data transfer

I acknowledge that using the currency exchange rates totally without some Purchasing Power Parity, might flaw my analysis a bit (or a lot) but this is still a good quick and dirty comparison. Besides I didn’t even do Economics 101, so my PPP analysis might be even more flawed. Economics students, feel free to lecture me or help me compare using PPP.

2. Fair & Reasonable Use

A recurring theme in the above comparisons reveals almost all Vodafone subsidiaries ( and most ISPs worldwide) engage in some form of data capping based on fair use.  Although I dislike the policy of data caps I do understand the constraints in bandwidth ISPs face in Ghana and will be willing to live with data transfer limits if they are reasonable.

Here are some quotes on Vodafone fair use policies in UK and Egypt.

Why does Vodafone apply a Fair Usage Policy?

In order to ensure the quality of the ADSL service to our customers and to guarantee that the majority of the customers are not negatively impacted by the misuse of the service by the minority of the customers; a fair usage policy is applied to our ADSL service.

Vodafone Egypt Fair Use Policy

3.1 In normal use the Broadband Service allows unlimited data transfer over our network. If, however, we reasonably believe that your use of the Broadband Services, including (but not limited to) the total amount of data which you download or upload, is not consistent with normal, fair and reasonable use of the internet then we will be entitled, at our option, to: impose limits on the amount of data which you may transmit; charge you reasonable additional data transfer charges; or suspend or terminate the Services.

3.2 Wherever reasonably possible we will give you written notice before taking any such action, and allow a reasonable period to allow you to modify your use.

Vodafone UK Terms & Conditions

Why can’t Vodafone Ghana apply a similar policy to that of the UK so those that infringe on fair use are ‘punished’ with caps. Also the UK policy ensures that you are notified and allowed reasonable time to amend your behaviour, if they think you are infringing. That is fair and reasonable. If unlimited use is unfeasible then Vodafone Egypt has a good policy for capping access.

…… After exceeding the quota set, the speed will automatically drop [author's note: to 128Kbps]  till the end of the month. The speed will go back to normal at the beginning of the new month.

This way the ISP can carry out network management while also not completely cutting any customer off.

However, again to be fair, Vodafone Ghana may intend to use such a measure in lieu of completely cutting off access except it is not explicitly spelled out or I failed to find it on their  website.  The only reference to fair use is in respect of the winner of the $1 millon dollar promo and the broadband service included with the prize.

3. Customer Service & Service Level Agreements (SLA)

This is one of the more touchy areas especially in Ghana where the NCA as we know has challenges in monitoring the quality of service to consumers. It is therefore left to the integrity of Vodafone to adhere to the service levels promised customers. This is a situation I find uncomfortable to say the least. OFCOM (the UK equivalent of NCA) almost always has things under control especially in respect of service levels.

It has become more imperative that since our data is now capped we require better SLAs. If they want to limit access, then we want more stable and reliable access close to the advertised speeds. I did a speed-test and got download / upload speeds of 170 Kbps / 30Kbps.

I believe that during the worst periods about 30% of advertised speeds and about 70% of advertised speeds must be explicitly required except in scheduled outages. So for 512Kbps, at worst 153Kbps and average 350 Kbps.

Here is a section of the UK’s Voluntary Code of  Practice for ISPs signed by the 50 biggest ISPs;

1. Provide all consumers within the sales process, with information on their estimated access line speed, regardless of whether this is conducted over the phone, in a retail shop or through the ISP’s website.

2. Provide a facility on their website so that consumers can find out, in a clear and easily accessible manner, what their estimated access line speed is.

This means that based on the usual factors that make speeds lower than advertised; distance to the ISPs exchange, poor quality lines and equipment, et cetera, you can make better buying decisions.  This way yo u won’t pay for a 1MBps service for which 256Kbps is the maximum you will achieve but maybe rather buy the 512 Kbps plan.

Here is a section of the current terms of Vodafone Ghana on service stability;

5.2 The Provider makes no guarantee as to the availability of the Service at any time and shall not be liable for any claims against it from the Subscriber due to the lack of availability of the Service. Nor shall it be held responsible for any loss or inconvenience suffered by the Subscriber due to lack of availability of the Service.

In all fairness, I am sure even finding a Terms & Conditions page for other Ghanaian ISPs might be a challenge but this is why I fear that we may get no better speeds with limited access, meaning less value for money.

Another customer service issue which this raises  is knowing how much of your data cap you have consumed. Currently there is no tool (I didn’t find one, customer care says they are working on it) which allows you to see your data usage.  I do not want to be on a ‘Blind Date’ with my internet connection!

I really hope Vodafone has better service at heart and that is why these changes occurred  and that all my worries and whining are moot, lets all hope so. SIGH!

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These are the facts (and a little bit of  conjecture on my part). Let me know what you think by comments.

Related posts:

1. The changing face of competition in Ghana’s mobile market
2. BB4GH – Ghana’s new Broadband Strategy
3. MTN confirms data outages (Update: Free Internet)
4. The Internet Connection Decision: Quantity versus Quality

Tags: broadband, data limits, Ghana, internet, pricing, Real Tech, service levels, speeds, telecoms, Unwired, Vodafone