Earlier this week the South African Telecom provider Vodacom issued a statement that it plans to cap BlackBerry data due to a few rotten apples hogging up data with reports to showing 310GB in data downloads in a month for a single user. Vodacom is now working with RIM to identify and take action against users who abuse the BlackBerry internet service, say reports.
“In the last couple of months we’ve seen an increasing number of complaints from BlackBerry and when we looked at it, we found a very small number were downloading masses of data,” executive head of media relations at Vodacom, Richard Boorman, told News24.
Earlier this week Vodacom initially said that it would slow the download speed of users who had reached a determined cap, due to some users exploiting loopholes in BIS that had an impact on other users not being able to access the network.
“People have found loopholes which allow them to download these massive files. When we say massive, one guy got 310GB in a month.”
“It’s a positive thing because it’s trying to make sure that those few people don’t clog up the system so that normal users, using the BlackBerry the way it was intended, can’t get their service.
“So what we’re going to do instead, is work with Research In Motion to find a solution to prevent the bulk mass downloads,” Boorman said.
“There is no throttling going on; nobody is having their service slowed down. What we’re doing is, we’re working with RIM to find that solution.”
“There’s quite a lot of emotion around this and what we’ve done is said let’s look at this another way: The intention isn’t to punish anyone; the intention is to stop these massive bulk downloads.”
When Vodacom initially announced its plans to cap its data and slow down speeds, the inter-webs went wild and the haters had plenty to write about. I saw headlines stating that RIM is on its way to death because its popularity in South Africa is attributed to RIM’s affordable pricing plan overseas. Now, if users are capped and slowed down, the potential for competitors like Apple and Android become a bigger threat. I agree that RIM and Vodacom must come to a compromise for the sake of RIM’s top spot in SA for the “Coolest Brand and Cellphone”.
Via news24