So yesterday we were very excited at the internet pricing sanity settling into the market. Broadband prices are dropping by as much as 80% and it’s not just uMAX, it’s basically been the trend over the past couple of months. Not so with YoAfrica. The internet provider (one of the largest locally) is strangely bucking the trend with price increases.
One reader tipped us to an email sent by YoAfrica to subscribers of their WiMAX based internet earlier this month. Blaming the price increase on “rising prices in Zimbabwe (fuel, rentals, licensing to name a few)”, the company has added $10 to their WiMAX monthly service prices. The extra $10 will apparently be used to cover WiMAX maintenance.
That $50 unlimited data (remember it’s ‘best effort pool’ after the first 1GB) is now $60. You can view the full pricing here. And here’s the full text of the YoAfrica email:
Dear YoAfrica WiMAX subscriber
We regret that, for the first time ever, we are going to have to increase
the last mile charges on the WiMAX platform. I am sure you are aware of the
rising prices in Zimbabwe (fuel, rentals, licensing to name a few). Because
of the increases the backbone network is becoming increasingly expensive to
run.From our next billing run, there will be an additional monthly charge of $10
to help cover the WiMAX maintenance We trust you will be understanding in
the need for this to ensure a stable and well maintained platform.You may also be interested to know we are able to upgrade most WiMAX
connections to Fibre Optic service which will be the delivery channel of the
future and at very reasonable rates. Please contact fibre@yoafrica.com for
more information.Regards
Yoafrica Billing
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10 comments
Yep confirmed, Yo Africa and probably Africa Online have a niche market in Zimbabwe… It’s the only logical reason why they would get away with this.
Internet packets consume a lot of fuel for travelling such long distance from Zim to Moza or via SA.
Please be advised that another immigration processing fee of $20 on your next bill might be added for quick clearance at the borders as they are now choking queues which add to slow internet speeds.
You are on point. As a YoAfrica customer though, I am happy with my service and would gladly pay that money, no fuss. I have seen how much negative articles you have written about YoAfrica since Techzim was born. Nothing on other ISPs. Even when Utande’s internet was down for over 70 Hours you were mum, when something is wrong at ZOL still nothing. That is the main reason that got me to look at YoAfrica, the dark horse and to tell you the truth, they are really the most worthy ISP around. You should ask just across the border what Mweb SA has done. It being the larget ISP in that country it also the biggest bully in there too, vis inter-connect traffic, i am just happy YoAfrica is not that bully but you favourate ZOL is turning into that bully. But you wont see that!
Amayenge akuYoAfrica, osachita zamisala pano chonde
I too am a YoAfrica subscriber at home and office, having previously used alternatives they are the one we stuck with a couple of years ago and I have to say I have no complaints with the service, especially at home.
I pay $80 (now $90 I guess) for Wimax unlimited 1mg, and regularly download in excess of 100 gig a month, I stream live sports online and play a lot of multiplayer games and have to say am very happy with the service for the amount I pay.
Would I like the price to go down, of course and to be fair I have some friends who have had very poor service from YoAfrica, but this is normally due to ADSL line problems rather than the actual ISP.
Its tough for me to compare to other ISPs as I last used ZOL or Telone 2 years ago and I have never tried Utande because there is no way I can download and stream over 100 gig for $90 on there.
I see now they not offering the totally unlimited package and it now has a peak cap, guess I was lucky to get their totally unlimited package when it was available, and to their credit they have never removed me from it. Though being a home connection I do not use it during the day, any dls are scheduled to start after 5 and I only stream tv in the evenings and weekends.
How well the package works during peak hours I am not sure, I never use it then.
Talk about “Yo-sheep” some people are actually defending Yo’s actions! HA!!…or maybe is just cleverly deployed Yo employees that have come to brainwash us into thinking paying more is always better…Clearly not anymore as times are changing for the better!
I am not trying to defend it as a good package for a company or someone who works at home, the peak cap is horrendous. But i was pointing out that for how I use it, ie watching soccer and cricket online at night / on weekends and downloading a lot of data off peak I think the product is good.
Seen as you obviously know the internet market in Zim much better than me please can you point out a cheaper / better package which lets me stream reliably and download a 100 gig or so a month?
Some quick maths says I would spend over $800 a month on umax to achieve that…
Is the umax deal better suited to a small business of course it is, but for a large company or someone who is a heavy downloader but is happy to do it off peak there are better packages out there (be it yo or someone else). You need to find the right package for your needs, so I am keen to hear from other readers where I can save myself money on what I use the internet for.
I am sure you are aware of the rising prices in Zimbabwe (fuel, rentals, licensing to name a few)….. I think Yo Africa billing team suffers from dementia ,probably the’re not aware of the statement they are making.
they are doing it because they likely want to push people onto there fibre network which will be cheaper and faster for them in the long run