Postpay,5bob frm 8pm,1bob btwn 12 am to 6am!

The chief value of money lies in the fact that one lives in a world in which it is overestimated.

This is the climax of Safcon's confusion on matters tariffs. YU has gradually rolled out to every major centre and soon will be covering every nook of the republic thanks to the resurgence of Rupee Billionaires. So how do I anticipate off peak in my cell especially given that the CBD alone is served by over a dozen of base stations. Why is MJ so jittery of late? Perhaps it has finally dawned on him that compe has begun in earnest.

'I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.'

When u analyze this tarriff well l think especially for rural folks,ma mum already on it!

The chief value of money lies in the fact that one lives in a world in which it is overestimated.

@ji that's what they said when the vuka wave began...

Be the change you want to see in the world...

Guys,my take is this: Its a simple supply-demand kind of model. In more densely populated areas they will charge more since the BTS are loaded with SMS/Voice traffic. Now we all know that densely populated = lower income (Kibera,Mathare,Uthiru)....so essentially they will charge the poor more since the ARPU from poor people is really low . Now if you are Mr Bana Kubwasana sitting in your verdant gazebo somewhere in Kyuna,and your neighbour is at least half an acre away,and the other one acre away,the BTS in that area will have less traffic and you all will enjoy lower rates (pls bear in mind they AUTOMATICALLY migrated all POST PAID subscribers i.e. High Net Worth Individuals - ok,the jury is still out as to whether they alone are HNW vis a vis a prepaid person who uses above 20k pm).





The reasoning I suspect goes like,it cost us Kshs 10 million to erect one BTS in Kangemi (and xxx million to run it) and all you give us,even in your thousands,is on average Kshs 300 each - as opposed to the BTS in Muthaiga which cost the same to build and run,yet the handful of residents give us Kshs 30,000 each per month....so while they do not overload the network,they do offer good returns.




So,the more the traffic,the higher the cost. Now I think being in the city centre and other suburbs that are dense during the day but sparse at night,will have the same effect - if you work in the CBD,be sure you will pay more. However,if you are out at night in the CBD sucking brown bottles,you will pay less.




So its going to be supply and demand based - no peak and off peak - that model cannot work anymore esp since off peak for voice is really when its peak for data (when people get home to surf,work,etc).....ANOTHER example is how KPLC structures its bills - from 0 to 200kwh it costs abt 3.75 per kwh,from 200-500 I think it jumps to Kshs 7 per kwh and over 500....even more (thats why KAM keep b****ing abt elect costs)



my two pfennigs

The problem with equality is that we desire that it be with those that have more than us rather that those that have less

Djinn,take into accound da fact dat a densely populated area has much more BTSs than a sparcely populated area. I also got info dat da system has been set to automatically charge low income areas less read universities,slums n rural kenya!

The chief value of money lies in the fact that one lives in a world in which it is overestimated.

@djin you're a bright chap.

But take into consideration @mcraggae observation that densely populated areas have more BTSs than a sparcely populated area. Hence less population few BTSs and higher population more BTSs and they cancel out.


AKS

@VVS,would you prefer it if safcon charged a flat rate of 3 bob per minute then not be able to call at all? Because that's what's going to happen from past experience. Supa Ongea is a good compromise,it reduces the herd mentality that occurs with peak-off peak model,ie everybody calling at the same time...

Be the change you want to see in the world...

@chris79 - I think club20 was only sms (all day for 20/-)... lakini I may be mistaken... They tried Vuka Ji-something @ 65 for unlimited z-z calls from 6am-6pm... that was very very good... I used it a lot...

*** The difference between the UG plan & Kenya plan is that u pay 20/- lakini the calls are NOT free/unlimited but discounted...

Greedy when others are fearful,Very fearful when others are greedy - to paraphrase WB

@McReggea and AlphaDoti - yes,they may have more BTS but the issue is SWITCHING CAPACITY - each BTS relays calls to the MSC (Mobile swithcing centre,which I belive is located at old safcom house) - its from there that all calls are re routed to be relayed to other BTS. If you are sitting somewhere in Embakasi and want to call someone in Buru Buru - your call will not 'hop' across into Eastlands,rather it will hop to Westlands FIRST,then back to Eastlands. So when looking at that capacity,if there are few BTS in a crowded area,then you have frequently dropped calls and poor quality of service. It is especially a problem in the CBD - signal strength is very poor despite many BTS.



SO in a way SCOM is trying to improve quality of service by deterring too much traffic in high population areas during the day (here is the thing,people will always check to see if its a good time to call....when the network is less congested,it will show a low tariff,when its highly congested like on Friday from 1700-2100,people WILL see high tariffs and decide whether they really need to make the usual 'Uko Wapi?' call to their buddies.....so its both about enhancing QoS and also about leveraging in high traffic areas. My two meticals

The problem with equality is that we desire that it be with those that have more than us rather that those that have less