Cell C said in a statement yesterday (13 August 2013) that it is updating its fair usage policy (FUP) for data services on BlackBerry 7 (and older) devices.
The new FUP is set to take effect from the start of next week, and introduces “fair use limits” across all of Cell C’s “BlackBerry Classic Plans”.
In the terms and conditions for BlackBerry 7 Internet service plans on its mobile website, Cell C outlined the new caps as follows:
- BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES): R114 for 2GB/month
- BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS): R57 for 2GB/month
- BlackBerry Social & E-mail Plan: R37 for 1GB/month
- BlackBerry Social Plan: R27 for 1GB/month
Once a subscriber hits these limits, they will pay Cell C’s 15c/MB out-of-bundle rate, the network operator said.
All plans offer access to BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), BlackBerry e-mail, BlackBerry App World, Internet Access, and social networking. Cell C summarises the additional features of the various plans on its website as follows:
- Social & Email Plan: 1 additional web-based e-mail account such as Yahoo! or Gmail.
- BlackBerry Internet Service: 10 Web-based email account, MSN Chat, & Google Talk, Blackberry Protect.
Asked whether users would be warned before going out of bundle, Cell C explained that customers will be notified both when they reach 90% of their usage limit and again once they hit their usage limit.
Cell C said that they decided to introduce the caps because abuse of the classic BlackBerry services remained high despite measures it put in place earlier this year.
“Some customers are still using in excess of 100GB of data, affecting the service levels of other BlackBerry customers,” Cell C said. “The streamlining of the service allows the company to address this problem.”
Customers with BlackBerry 10 devices will not be affected by the change, Cell C said.
Cell C highlighted in its statement that its fair usage thresholds are the highest available on the market. At face-value this is true of their cheaper Social & E-mail plans, where MTN offers 200MB per month or less.
However, other mobile network operators claim to offer uncapped BlackBerry Internet Service packages at the ±R60/month price point.
Cell C has clarified that it is referring to unthrottled BlackBerry data products when claiming its fair use limits are the highest in the market.
Source: MyBB
