Chris Houser <houser@kinjo-u.ac.jp>, 2007-02-01 12:38 +0900:
> How is this different from the current packet-hodai plans?
> I thought that for many months now we could buy unlimited imode for 4000y/month.
> Do the new plans just replicate that imode pricing for moperaU?
The current pake-houdai doesn't cover packet traffic generated by the
full browser that ships on newer Docomo handsets (as opposed to the
standard i-mode browser). So currently if you want to use the full
browser, you have to pay as you go for packets it generates[1].
I think the current base pake-houdai rate is 3900 JPY/month, so
this new "pake-houdai full" gives you unlimited use of the full
browser for an additional 2000 JPY/month. Which is probably a very
good deal for anybody who uses the full browser much at all.
Because otherwise -- since it generates huge numbers of packets --
if you have to pay for it per-packet you could easily end getting
billed 40,000 or 50,000 JPY a month in packet charges for using it.
The 3900/5900 flat-rate fee structure is similar to what KDDI has
for Au: I think their base flat-rate without use of the PC Site
Viewer is 4200 per month. To get full use of the PC Site Viewer at
a flat rate, you have to pay another 1500 per month.
I guess this could be interpreted as a sign that Docomo wants to
encourage a lot more subscribers to start using the full browser.
--Mike
[1] You can get steeply discounted per-packet rates by paying an
extra 1000, 3000, 6000, or 9000 JPY/month for a Packet Plan (the
rate goes down the more you pay; it's 0.1 JPY/packet if you pay
1000 JPY, goes down to 0.015 JPY/packet if you pay 9000 JPY/month).
--
Michael(tm) Smith
http://people.w3.org/mike/
Received on Thu Feb 1 09:23:29 2007