Vodacom is implementing a capping system on its BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) for users exceeding 100MB of usage per month.
BIS users who exceed the 100MB threshold per month will have their connection speed reduced from 3G to 2G. Vodacom says BlackBerry Enterprise users will not be affected.
According to the operator, this is only one of the measures being put in place “aimed at improving the user experience”.
Vodacom says that according to its own research into usage patterns, 95% of BlackBerry data usage is attributable to less than 5% of users.
Chief technology officer Andries Delport says: “We need to ensure that all BlackBerry users are able to enjoy the service that they pay for.
“When we realised that such a small minority was using the bulk of the capacity, we decided to implement measures that will ensure that BlackBerry users will enjoy a better browsing experience overall.”
As news of the BIS throttling spread via social media, the reaction from users was less than favourable. Here are some of the tweets currently filling up the Twitter stream:
“No doubt @vodacom will spin this new policy as protecting the consumer, but we're wiser than that.”
“100MB, don't be ridiculous! BIS used to be good value, now a 100MB data bundle would be cheaper. Pathetic. #fail @Vodacom.”
“@Vodacom: You win the Shane Warne award for spin trying to make a BB cap sound like good news to a user.”
“Is this the beginning of the end for BlackBerry in SA? @Vodacom.”
Vodacom has responded to criticism via its own Twitter account, tweeting: “Whoa BB fans - this'll make the service better! A few data hogs were slowing everyone. BB data is heavily compressed - 100MB goes a long way.”
Another tweet said: “There's no cap on BB - still unlimited browsing. Small % of users clogging things up for 95% of you and we're fixing that.”
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