GSM WORLD

> From 1st June Vodafone are changing the way they charge for data. Reading
> between the lines web access will plateau at Ł1 per day for up to 15MB,
> but other IP access will cost Ł2 per MB (down from Ł2.35 now).
>
> My contract (which still has another 11 or 12 months to run) currently
> includes Ł30 of data/SMS, which is 250 text messages (at 12p each)
> interchangeable with data at Ł2.35 per MB. If I continue the same usage
> (~10 MB per month, and a handful of text messages) my bill will increase
> from Ł25 per month to at least Ł45 per month, but with each data session
> now to cost 5p, it would probably go higher as my phone checks for new
> e-mail, which would normally only send a few bytes.
>
> Given this is a detrimental change to the consumer, does anyone have any
> experience of how Vodafone handles this? I will contact them in a few
> days - experience has taught me the operators do not always know about new
> changes as soon as they appear, and trying to explain the difference
> between ssh and http protocols, so as to ask if they are charged
> differently might be hard!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Mark.

> Theyve stated that there will be monthly data bundles but no other details,
> although with a 30 day cancellation policy, youd hope theyed be published
> before 1st May so that we all have time to sign up with WebnWalk.....

>
> Does WebnWalk allow peer-to-peer services (by this I mean ssh from my
> putty client to a linux box)?
>

> Jeremy wrote:
>> Theyve stated that there will be monthly data bundles but no other
>> details, although with a 30 day cancellation policy, youd hope
>> theyed be published before 1st May so that we all have time to sign
>> up with WebnWalk.....
>
> Does WebnWalk allow peer-to-peer services (by this I mean ssh from my
> putty client to a linux box)? VF will excluded peer-to-peer
> communications, which, by my reading will exclude ssh, pop, imap, smtp
> etc, as these all go peer to peer and not via an http proxy.

> Peer to peer services tend to mean p2p sharing - certainly in my
> experience in a network admin role. Ive no idea if mobile networks
> take a different stand on it.

> David Hearn wrote:
>> Peer to peer services tend to mean p2p sharing - certainly in my
>> experience in a network admin role. Ive no idea if mobile networks take
>> a different stand on it.
>
> Well they have traditionally had a different understanding of internet
> access to the rest of us, confusing it with web access, so maybe I need
> to make some more enquiries.
>
> Interestingly, Ive just calculated what last months bill would have been
> under the new charging scheme, assuming a 5p minimum charge per data
> session and capping at Ł1 a day (though knowing VF ssh/putty traffic would
> be treated as the most expensive as they would have no way of knowing if
> it was web/voip/file sharing etc so would would have to assume it was the
> most expensive). Normally Id pay Ł25 a month and rarely go over my
> data/sms limit, but I reckon for the same usage it would now cost Ł49.51
> with no added benefits for me. That is an hefty change.
>
> I shall make some enquiries to Trading Standards next week to see what the
> law says.
>
> Mark.