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Read this if you're from NZ

Nermal

Nermal

Moderator
Original poster
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
21,449
5,325
New Zealand
I don't know how long this site's been around for, but please go to http://www.call4change.co.nz and vote. If enough people vote, we might finally get sane broadband pricing :)

This is known as 'local loop unbundling' and it has happened in every other country in the developed world except Mexico.
Click to expand...

Doesn't this make us look civilised :rolleyes:

(apologies to anyone from Mexico)
 
I voted. :)

It's about time for some decent pricing. A big problem I find is that a lot of programs almost expect that you have a broadband connection and act accordingly, but in New Zealand, most people still have dialup because of the high price of broadband (I was using dialup until last month, now I have a 256 kbps connection with Telstra).
 
Is that cable? I can't get cable where I live (Whakatane) so I'm stuck on 128k DSL :(
 
Originally posted by Nermal
Is that cable? I can't get cable where I live (Whakatane) so I'm stuck on 128k DSL :(
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Yeah, it is. The option has been available here (Christchurch) for the last year or two. It's a pity you can't get faster than 128k, but it could be worse. About 3 or 4 years ago I was still using a 14.4K modem (with a peak speed of 1.2KB a second)!
 
My DSL died the other day so I had to use 56k. I can't stand a connection that slow anymore. It's scary to think that I started off in 1995 with a 4800 bps connection to MSN :eek: Naturally, it didn't take long for me to upgrade to 14.4 (and to switch to a real ISP in the process). I eventually got DSL, back in 2001, and have been waiting for something a bit faster ever since.

Edited for wording (2 days after the original post!)
 
I was reminded of the [lack of] speed of slower connections this afternoon when I was downloading a file from a busy server at about 1.3 KB a second. It made we realise me how dependant I've become on cable. :eek:

I think that slower connections were more tolerable a few years ago since people were aware that people used them. Websites and programs were both (generally) much smaller than today.
 
Jeez - that bites guys...

As an ex-pat Kiwi (obviously!) I thought it my duty to add my vote to the petition.

128kps broadband?!?

Wow - there's a rumour around that you folks recently acquired motorcars down there a couple of years back, too.

Could you confirm?


Welcome to the 20th Century!

:rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by kiwi_the_iwik
Jeez - that bites guys...

As an ex-pat Kiwi (obviously!) I thought it my duty to add my vote to the petition.

128kps broadband?!?

Wow - there's a rumour around that you folks recently acquired motorcars down there a couple of years back, too.

Could you confirm?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I just went outside to look. It took me a while, but I found one. :D

In the main centres we have more options. I think the only ones that are faster than 256 kbps are only aimed at businesses though. :rolleyes:

One day will get some decently priced broadband... But by then the rest of the world will have a 256 Mbps connection and pigs will have been genetically modifed so that they can fly. :D
 
Well being a JAFA myself, I am only on dial up at the moment but am thinking about getting either Woosh or Jetstream in the not to distant future.
 
Whoosh wireless is about 300 - 400 to get installed I read,but it has unlimited download for about 60 or 70 bucks,at 256k I think it was.



Telecom must be making an incredible amount of dosh by controling the cables/gouging the customer... :mad:
 
They sure are! If you go to their website, their DSL service is called "Xtra JetStream" - they push you onto Xtra unless you specifically tell them otherwise. And Xtra is horrendously expensive, $35 a month for 5 gigs, most ISPs are $30 a month and offer at least 10 gigs.
 
The quicker that the Government deregulates the telecommunications networks over there, the better. In the UK, we had much the same crap, until the monopoly held by BT came to an end.

Still - THEY haven't learned: Their customer service sucks, and their prices are inflated. Thank goodness for competition - there are hordes of ISPs available to pick up the ball which was fumbled by BT...

To see how we do things over here, check out:

www.adslguide.org

and run a cost comparison.

I wish you guys luck down there - you have the infrastructure of fibre optic networks, and the existing copper wire technology is alredy good enough to give bandwidth of up to 8Mb/s...

...so they have NO excuses, really...

:(
 
That's correct, everyone was expecting it to be unbundled, but it didn't happen. Call4Change is a new website (opened this month), trying to convince the Govt that it NEEDS to be unbundled.
 
Originally posted by Nermal
My DSL died the other day so I had to use 56k. I can't stand a connection that slow anymore. It's scary to think that I started off in 1995 with a 4800 bps connection to MSN :eek: Naturally, it didn't take long for me to upgrade to 14.4 (and to switch to a real ISP in the process). I got DSL back in 2001 and have been waiting for something a bit faster ever since.
Click to expand...

Is satallite avaliable?
 
No, not at a decent price. It's 10c per MB once you hit a certain (low) limit :eek:

See here for details, if you dare... ;)
 
Originally posted by Nermal
No, not at a decent price. It's 10c per MB once you hit a certain (low) limit :eek:

See here for details, if you dare... ;)
Click to expand...

My school was using an iHug satellite last year. It was the most unreliable connection I've ever seen. Basically, it never worked whenever it was cloudy, and the speed when it was working was not sufficient for a school anyway. :(
 
DATA CAP?!?


Well - SCREW THAT!

Sorry guys - they're really nailing you to the wall. Let the revolution begin...

That MUST be against the Geneva Convention, or something. Let the World know - call the UN, Amnesty International, UNICEF...

...or Batman.

:mad:

It's with stories like this that I remember why I left my beautiful - yet BACKWARD country to seek my fortune afar. Don't these people realise GOOD business sense when they see it? Let's see, now - LOWER the rates, give MORE services, REMOVE the cap - and HEY-PRESTO! LOADS MORE people will sign on the dotted line...

The folks in charge of NZ - and the companies - are MUPPETS. But unfortunately, that's what you get when there's a "brain-drain" (obviously, it's MY generation who are running the country now - and everyone I went to school with pretty much now live abroad. So the only ones left are the idiots who couldn't afford the ticket out at the time, or were too NARROW-MINDED to do the Overseas Experience when they were younger...).

It's a classic case of the MEEK INHERITING THE EARTH.

:rolleyes:

May your plan of action succeed. These bastards can't get away with that kind of crap.

;)

"Could the last one there turn off the lights?"
 
Originally posted by kiwi_the_iwik
DATA CAP?!?


Well - SCREW THAT!

Sorry guys - they're really nailing you to the wall. Let the revolution begin...
Click to expand...

Indeed they are. Actually until January I had umlimited bandwidth, but that was a 56 kbps connection. Now I've got a 10GB/month limit at almost 10 times the speed (256/56 is not 10, but I could only ever get about 3.5 KB/sec out of the 56K modem)


That MUST be against the Geneva Convention, or something. Let the World know - call the UN, Amnesty International, UNICEF...

...or Batman.
Click to expand...

I believe it is in breach of my human rights. Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is:
"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
Now if our internet options are not torture, I don't know what is. :D

It's with stories like this that I remember why I left my beautiful - yet BACKWARD country to seek my fortune afar. Don't these people realise GOOD business sense when they see it? Let's see, now - LOWER the rates, give MORE services, REMOVE the cap - and HEY-PRESTO! LOADS MORE people will sign on the dotted line...
Click to expand...

And in the future unbundling will undoubtedly have good effects on our economy. So why not? Sometimes I think the country's run by monkeys...
 
Originally posted by HexMonkey
And in the future unbundling will undoubtedly have good effects on our economy. So why not? Sometimes I think the country's run by monkeys...
Click to expand...

So says someone who calls himself a monkey :rolleyes: (albeit one with 6 sides) ;)
 
Word's getting around :) A friend of mine has just changed her MSN username to "Tired of Telecom? FIGHT THE MONOPOLY! Click the YES and STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS! www.call4choice.co.nz", or something to that effect :)
 
Lucky!!

Man, you NZ guys are so lucky. Some places in the states don't even have true broadband. Just recently did my area get some sort of wireless T3 installed that's fast (supposedly 2.5 mb/s) but its way too expensive. Then there's a horrid ISDN line from the mom and pop ISP in town that disconnects all the time. Also, the cable company decides it's going to add its (who knows, maybe horrid too?) own connection to the mix? I'm j waiting on 56k until something short of $40/50 USD comes into range. I wish we could vote on that!
 
"Broadband" is defined as 256 kb/s or faster. Only about 10% of NZers live in an area where you can get broadband without paying per MB. Everyone else must use 128k DSL (or dialup if they're in a rural area) if they want a "flat rate" connection.

I've seen some broadband pricing in the US, stuff like EarthLink's 1.5 Mb/s DSL for $49.95 per month. That's about NZ$70 per month, which would get you what the local telco calls "JetStream 1000". JS1000 gives you a connection up to 8 Mb/s, with a data cap of 1000 MB. Go over that 1000 MB and you pay 20c per MB (US 14c).

I appreciate that different parts of the US would have different services available, after all you have different providers etc. Here in NZ the phone system was owned by the Government, and was sold to a private company (Telecom) in 1989. Telecom then proceeded to rip off the consumer as much as possible :mad:

And that is what the website's all about. We're voting to have a choice of phone provider. Right now, we have no choice. We must use Telecom. Hopefully enough people will vote, and we'll be able to choose our own provider.

Since I'm ranting, I might as well add a quick cost comparison. Currently I'm paying Telecom:

Phone Line $38.95
128k DSL Connection $29.95
Plus $30 to my ISP
TOTAL $98.90

If I was to switch to, say, Telstra, they offer a phone line, 256k DSL, and ISP connection for $69.95 per month - a saving of $28.95 (US$20). Currently, to get that deal, you have to live in an area where Telstra has run their own cables. Hopefully they'll extend these prices nationwide.

Anyway, I'm sure you're all tired of reading by now :rolleyes:
 
I just remembered something...

The current system is fully capable of delivering ridiculously high speeds. A few months ago, there was a failure which caused everyone's 128k connections to speed up into the megabits. It lasted about 3 days, and it was fast for everyone - it didn't slow down due to a massive bandwidth strain. And, of course, I downloaded a lot of stuff over those few days :D

Go BitTorrent and Direct Connect! :D
 
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