As you all know by now, Mauritius Telecom is bringing some drastic changes in its ADSL offers both for home and business users. (carrotmadman6 blogged on this yesterday.)
For instance, I have MyT 256 at home and I get:
- Maximum bandwidth of 256kbit/s to access servers outside Mauritius
- Maximum bandwidth of 2Mbit/s to access servers inside Mauritius (including the local Akamai servers)
- Video on Demand
- 12 channels of Digital TV (TNT)
- And I pay Rs 750 + VAT = Rs 862.50 monthly.
As from 1 March 2009 (in 2 days!), I am going to have:
- New: Maximum bandwidth of 512kbit/s to access servers outside Mauritius (twice my current maximum bandwidth.)
- New: 15 international channels for free for 3 months (presumably over IP) and if I decide to keep them I’ll have to fork Rs 999 (instead of the Rs 862.50 I’m currently paying)
- Same: maximum bandwidth of 2Mbit/s to access servers inside Mauritius (including the local Akamai servers)
- Same: Video on Demand
- Same: 12 channels of Digital TV (TNT)
- Same: And I will still have to pay Rs 862.50 monthly if I don’t decide to keep the 15 international channels after the three months.
Reading the official press release from Orange / Mauritius Telecom, I can see some play on words:
- For example, it is written “La vitesse double sur les offres My.T existantes […] aux mêmes tarifs.” This is why I wrote above that I’ll indulge in 512kbit/s while still paying Rs 862.50 monthly.
- It is also written “La nouvelle offre My.T à 512K qui comprend au lancement un bouquet TV de quinze chaînes internationales […] est disponible pour Rs 999/mois.” It is not clear whether new MyT users will have the possibility to subscribe to the old MyT without the 15 international channels (but I suspect this will be the case.)
- And finally, “Les nouvelles offres de My.T s’enrichissent en contenu pour des prix en baisse pouvant atteindre 46% – l’offre My.T 1M offerte précédemment à Rs 3151/mois passe ainsi à Rs 1,699/mois.” This is true for some MyT users only! Someone who currently has My 1M pays Rs 3151 per month. In two days, he will get 2Mbit/s at the same price of Rs 3151 per month. If he decides that 2Mbit/s is too much, then he’ll have the opportunity to downgrade to 1Mbit/s and pay Rs 1360 + VAT = Rs 1564 per month. If he decides to keep the 15 international channels then he will pay about Rs 135 more per month for a total of Rs 1,699. But what about My 256 users like me? In two days, I will have 512kbit/s but it will be impossible for me to downgrade to 256kbit/s as this offer simply does not exist anymore…
Nothing very serious but an official press release should really have been written more thoroughly. Still, there are some niggling issues on my mind:
- 15 international channels? Which ones? Don’t mention channels like Doordarshan Sports or NDTV Good Times. They are crap! I suspect a mix of 1-2 relatively good channels (e.g. CNN and, ahem, B4U Music) and a bunch of pathetic ones.
- 15 international channels? Yes. But at what quality? Watching VOD programs sometimes is excruiating as the image is so bad (compression artefacts everywhere for instance.) I don’t even want to talk about sound quality because it pains me to do so as a musician. I cannot see Mauritius Telecom sending 15 TV channels over IP without making extreme concessions in quality. Will this be worth Rs 135 per month? Time will tell.
- The infamous fair usage policy! Mauritius Telecom has still not explained what the limits exactly are. With increased bandwidth, people will indulge in more video (e.g. YouTube) as well as more streaming radio. I know I will. And if you think about it, this is the whole point of having increased bandwidth. Obviously, my daily download volume will increase. Will the FUP be modified to take this behavioural change into account? I doubt it.
- And finally what guarantee do we have that we will actually be able to use a substantial part of the promissed bandwidth? None! Mauritius Telecom, like all ISPs, sells dreams and does its best effort but routinely fails. For instance, Internet was slow both at home and at work today… We cannot protest because, well, they can prove that they are doing their best effort even though this does not mean anything concrete. Now, with mostly everyone doubling their maximum bandwidth (I don’t see a lot of people downgrading), how can that possibly work without Mauritius Telecom doubling its international bandwidth? As far as I know, this has not been the case and I doubt that this will happen in the next two days. What I can sense though is a lot of frustration on Sunday.
Mais bon, donnons leur le bénéfice du doute. Let’s see what happens on 1 March 2009! I just hope we are not just voodoo dolls for them which they manipulate as they like.
I give them the benefit of doubt as well… let’s see what happens on Sunday.
Crossing my fingers for the FUP though. :P
well i had adsl 512kpbs tille 4pm to-day.
After i had reset my modem,i saw that my line changed from 512kbps to 1024 kbps and my upload speed from 128kbps to 256 kbps.
I also noticed that i got the 1024kbps speed only on local websites.
I downloaded a 6MB file on the ncb website in only 40-45 s..
i just hope that i get that speed on international website on sunday.
Hope it’s for the better, the only thing I’m afraid of currently is the FUP!!
I for one, am sure that I will double my online gaming time any downloads. Currently, with a myT 256, I do +/- 2gb per day. But I heard it from an insider{a friend working for MT} that now FUP will be applied to a more strict level due to the increase of bandwidth. Histoire reste a confirmer.
J crois pas que c pour ce dimanche !!!
OpTiX-PrO
Rejoignez moi sur : http://optix-pro.labrute.fr/
I believe this increase in increase would be warmly welcomed, specially this our upload rate is increased, i run a webserver on my machine at home to share a few files with friends and sometimes we use to play some quake or age of empires over the local network, the increase in upload rate will also be damned welcomed. Actually that was the major limitating factor that was preventing the proper use of the 2mb/s local network. I was even thinking of resorting to making a custom p2p network locally to get more out of that 2mb/s local, but heh, with the now 256kb/s uprate, that won’t be necessary i guess.
Had some projects in mind that requires good enough upload rate, i hope now i can move on to 1mb/s if i decide to “invest” a little
Yeah. I welcome the “increase in increase” too :-)
I getting only that 1 Mbps speed on local websites and on akamai servers..
My download speed remained the same on websites like youtube.com, rapidshare etc.. i.e ` 512-570 kbps. i.e around 59-64 KB/s.
wel, i am wondering whether that 1 MBps speed is only for local website while on international ones the speed would remain 512 kbps?
Are there Any users who experiencing the same speed as me after that their connection has been upgraded?
After all, the Internet will not be that slow in 2009!
MT has come a long way since the time of the famous ‘Servihoo Boy’ ads on TV during the late 90s & has done its ‘best’ to address our concerns.
The only thing that still baffles me is how Mauritius Telecom has still permitted itself to retain both Orange ADSL and MyT when it looks all clear that the latter appears a better investment if we compare the 512K and 1Mb price/offer plans.
@BlackAdda
It’s mainly because many users cannot have the VOD services of My.T (ADSL2) since they are located too far away from the DSLAM – so the only option is ADSL.
even though my connection changed from 512Kbps to 1 MBps..there is no major improvement in my connnection speed.
Last Result:
Download Speed: 512 kbps (64 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 194 kbps (24.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 351 ms
I just had my Orange ADSL connection ‘upgraded’ to 512K from 128K (from what I can see in my modem status window) a few hours back.
Akamai-cached websites are loading very fast but not for others such as Rapidshare! (am still getting 12-13 KB/s).
I wonder if MT are just experimenting before the official launch set for tomorrow. I’ll request my fellow Orange ADSL subscribers to reply if they’re experiencing anything similar or if their browsing/downloading experience is faring differently.
Still doubling your current package is quite a laudable effort from TP. Like you that, I too expect a lot of frustration on Sunday.
Something quite strange is that I read on L’express at the beginning of this week itself stating that MT is not willing to lower its price. In the same article, the Minister stating that he will make public the price that would apparently be practiced by Reliance, an Indian Company willing to invest in Mauritius.
After some couple of days, voila!
MT brings in its attire these new packages and the Minister not stating the price that would be practice by Reliance like he stated.
Now regarding the SEACOM Cable. It is stating that it will be operation from 1st of June 2009 but I cannot see anywhere where it is stated that this cable will land somewhere in Mauritius. Neither for the EASSy Cable; only that MT is a shareholder in it.
I heard there’s another cable interconnecting the Indian Ocean island, i think it’s called Lion’s Project something like that.
Frankly, I’m just hearing about cables and cables planning to serve Mauritius, but I cannot see anywhere this information is coming from.
Perhaps if someone working somewhere having some more priviledged information regarding this issue can share it with us.
Hello All,
I can assure you that international bandwidth is also being increased on Sunday 01 and this is from an insider (me!).
And carrotmadman6 you got it perfectly right. You can choose not to keep the TV after 3 months and carry on paying your Rs863
Open to any questions.
Cheers
Sorry, that should have read:
And Avinash you got it perfectly right.
BTW, MyT 2M is UNLIMITED
Just waiting for that moment where the bandwidth will be doubled.. Im sure everyone gona download all types of videos
Are you sure about that Sabrina? MyT 2M does not have any FUP?
Mine has been doubled :-)
I can (finally) watch YouTube videos without any pauses. Shit! This means yet another reason not to do productive work :-)
Yea, the 2M package has no FUP. It’s written on the updated MyT website.
http://www.mauritiustelecom.com/myt/broadband.html#2m
To BlackAdda & jens:- Same here, they said to me that my line has been upgraded to 512K but im still having 25-30kb. I phoned 8902 7times since 8:00am this morning and they gave me all kinds of B.S.
1. They can’t guarantee International connections..
2. Fair Usage Policy (My connection was still normal before the upgrade) Also i wonder if the FUP applies to Local connection too? Bcoz Im dling a file from NCB homepage and getting 80-150kb when normally it should be 200+kb
Some employees there said that 80kb for the 2MB local connection is good. 0.0 and 512kb should have a dl rate of 30kb (ZOMFG!)
After many hours phoning them and talking to many different employees there, i dont know if i should be laughing or be angry lol.
Cheerz
Michael
My connection got quadrupled early in the morning. Hurray!
What I’m planning for the weeks ahead:
1. Hours of Youtube (a time-waster or a treasure trove? It’s both and I just love it!)
2. Trying out a host of programs from Ubuntu’s mammoth repository (finally)
3. Dusting out my Webcam & connecting it to my PC.
4. Of course, some ‘Rapidshare’ing.
Can you imagine? I’m still using ZTE’s ZXDSL 852 modem ;D
For me, the speed is the same – there is no difference…
2M without FUP?!? What for? Ah, I get it, it’s for those selling films at Rs. 50 throughout Mauritius :-)
Restart your Livebox.
2MB still at Rs2,999..well, there’s still a long way to go to bring it down at a reasonable price, lets say at Rs1,300 with the VoIP function for local calls!!!
Think Dulull spoke about that another function in the past, how about it Sabrina on your side.
Lucky you BlackAdda, my connection speed is still 25-30kb. Hey any idea where i can test my speed? to know if my connection has been upgraded to 512kb? Currently im using speedtest.net.
Cheerz
Mine also, speed is the same – i have a MyT 256…….
Bizarre…
I didn’t have to do anything and I’m getting 45kilobytes/s on my MyT 512 (as expected.) To those having issues, have you tried restarting your Liveboxes?
Ah btw i restarted the livebox 5 times 2day.. But im relieve to see that im not the only one having this problem..
How do i reset it?….
i’m having 60kb/s downloading speed with my MyT 256 > 512.
think my recent post haven’t been included.
test your speed at http://www.speedtest.net
what’s weird is that my reference point is no more Mauritius but UK (London)
do check it out for yourselves.
@avinash
Rs. 50? Lol it’s 4 for Rs. 100 nowadays.
I don’t know if downloading 15-20 Gb per month is considered “fair” :P
[To reset the Livebox, just power it down, wait for 10s and power it on again.]
Personally, I don’t see the reason why a similar FUP to what we have does not apply to those having MyT 2M? Except if the “target audience” is what I mentioned above.
Hmm i have just phone MyT again ^^ They said they can’t do anything for me ^^” anyway im tired trying of explaining myself to these ppl, its frustrating to see my neighbors surfing @ 512k and not me.
@Emmerdeur
SEACOM will not be connected to Mauritius. LION is for connecting Mauritius to Madagascar for sharing SAFE to them. Seganet is the one that is supposed to inter-connect all Indian Ocean islands, but I think it’s still at the design stage… :(
The only fibre project that will be connected to Mauritius is EASSy, scheduled for next year.
Refer to this post for more.
Yes Avinash. MyT 2M is unlimited, no FUP. trust me
@ Emmerdeur
Maybe Dulull can see with those indians he’s bringing here if they can do 2M at Rs1,300…
@ Avinash
T+ always had a clause (11.33) ever since ADSL came out for those doing excessive usage. Orange decided to come right out with it and be OPEN about this clause. Guess we just scared everyone, heavy and light including.
I read somewhere in this post that abroad you can choose not to go FUP as you have a choice of ISPs. Well you have a choice here too except everyone else is selling capped offers.
Have a look at what Orange is offering next door – similar geographical location as us? Those guys are offering 8M capped at 3GB. Would you have preferred that?
Come on guys stop ranting and enjoy. BTW, I’m still testing if I am getting better speeds or not..
@Michael
same thing to me..
although my line changed to 1Mbps i’m still getting a download speed of 512 kbps on international servers!!1 that’s lame on the part of MT.
latest speed test results:
download speed: 505 kbps
upload speed: 114 kbps..
It seems that on international servers my speed is still 512 kbps..
i’m writing a mail to orange.
So i checked my connection speed today…
download speed:246 kbps
upload speed:46 kbps
@jens
A mail? Can you give me the mail address plz? Im going to write something too..
It would seems that very few ppl are having this issue and maybe some other users might even don’t know that they have the same prob. And 8902 still give me the same answers, “pa cave garanti connection international” or “FUP” or “pa cave fr narnien pou ou”.
Cheerz!
Well! i phoned the MyT responsible today… He told me that some users, even if their line has already been upgraded, they may not have been given green light to download at the required rate. It would seem that they are working on it…
Now I can only hope that im in that group of users.
Cheerz
i doubt that they will ever reply.
Anyway. i phoned the this morning on 8900, they say that they are going to check my line and do the necessary.
The guy did not precise when but said ” automatique sa”
lol guess what, MT just got my e-mail and phoned me
they asked me to check my connection in about 30 mins.
@ sabrina
am i sensing some frustration regarding my comments/questions in your answers?
It’s already Monday And I’m still on 128 (Orange normal) :-(
Best part, 8900 is engaged!
Did you notice that ever since this change google seems to arbitrarily redirect to wrong country page, e.g sometimes it is forwarding me to google.co.uk or at times google.es!
noticed?
Don’t tell me! With whom?
@avinash
ROFL!!! :P
Somebody mentioned YouTube at once go and I had to try it. A couple of months ago I was looking for Cat People by David Bowie on YouTube and it was very very frustrating to have the gaps. Right now, as I type I’m listening to China Girl without any interuptions. Sublime :-). Now, I’m off to Cat People ……..
Couldn’t resist it :-)
All you young dudes try these and you’ll undertstand the meaning of a genious, talented exceptional artist.
Cat people original version with Stevie Ray Vaughan on Guitar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRbuxshYvtg
Cat People live http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gprIR991EkY
Heroes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjBQKIOb-w
@Michael
@jens
@VirtualGeek
pity you can’t give me your phone nos. maybe you can email me on and I’ll check for you tomorrow
@ Emmerdeur
Tu portes bien ton nom…just kidding….No I am not frustrated, dude, I would be happy for you if you could get 2M @ Rs1,300 elsewhere…just hope it’s not 2M capped 1GB ROFL
Yep! I even got google.de during the day! Guten Tag :-)
Hi Raj,
I like Bowie too. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Talking Heads. You know them?
@ Carrotmadman6
Finalement voila la confirmation du Ministre dans Le Mauricien d’aujoud’hui (c’est serieux comme confirmation en tout le cas):
“Toujours dans le domaine de la connectivité, ce dernier a confirmé que Maurice sera connectée au câble de fibre optique Seacom cette année. Ce câble, long de 15 000 km, reliera en effet les pays d’Afrique à l’Europe et la landing station sera située à Flic-en-Flac.”
So, from July 2009, should be expect an ADSL 2+ being offered to us?
20MB and above? :)
Sabrina, care to comment on that? MT associated with that project apart in EASSy?
Sabrina par hasard to pas boulot lors derniere l’etage Telecom Tower toi non? :p
Hi Sabrina, am having some problems lately, i just send you a mail to the contact you left above, hope you reply me soon :)
Thanks
Since yesterday at about 17:15 pm, i’m unable to connect to the internet using my adsl connection.
I keep on getting error 691: invalid username and password on this domain, even thought my username and password are good and well written
What is happening???
Glad there’s another Bowie fan here. I have most of his 70’s albums and those that came out after “Hours” in 1990/91. And I buy the original ones please, no piracy for the star.
Talking Heads !!!. Well I only know “Road to nowhere” and “Burning down the house” both from the mid eighties. One thing I heard was that the girl playing bass with the band didn’t know how to play the instrument and she was constantly showted at by the lead singer :-) But when you hear the bass in “Burning down the house” it doesn’t sound like an amateur at all.
By the way yesterday indulged myself in YouTube with “Over the Hills” by Garry Moore and the live version by NightWish. Until now I like the Garry Moore’s version but I’m very impressed by the live performance by NightWish, specially the drums and guitar. Comfortablly Numb (1993 Pulse version – > 9 mins). Listening to the guitar solo by Gilmour makes me think that we humans are mere channels through which the gods of the universe express themselves (thats not from me, I think its Laurent Voulzy who said that in an interview).
The Trooper live by Iron Maiden.
@Emmerdeur
I hope that the news is right & the minister wasn’t talking about EASSy… coz seacom.mu seems to suggest otherwise.
& then I found another article on Le Mauricien РMaurice pourrait ̻tre desservie par le c̢ble Seacom
(Crossing my fingers!) :P
@avinash @Raj
I listen to some Bowie but I’m not a big fan,Pink Floyd is awesome!! =]
This is what I like listening to.
@ Emmerdeur
Seacom? Nope first time I hear that..
If I work on last floor of TTower? no, actually I’m on the 3rd: cafetaria ROFL
@ Sailesh
Check ur mail
@ jens
Hey, I got a name. I’m not “To whom it may concern”. Forwarding your no. for tests. will let you know asap as you’re having logging problems too..
@Nitish
OK dude. forwarding yours too for test..so people around you are happy with their speeds
@ the googlers Europe : my answer on mediaguru
for you lucky guys getting teleported all over the place: forwarded this problem to the Network guys. We had been allocated a new range of IPs by Afrinic that were being wrongly geo-referenced by Google as in Spain and UK.
Problem resolved with the Google guys, so no more teleporting for you lot
thanks to Johnny ;-)
@ sabrina
sorry i just forwarded and edited a mail that i already sent to MT.
still not able to connect to the internet pff, i think i will go to MT at R-Hill to-day
Who are you mysterious Sabrina? :) lol
Thanks a lot Sabrina.. I’ll wait for the test reply..
helloo here!
Someone know the dns servers of myt ? i would like to set static ip !
btw.. since MT upgraded my 512 >>1mega.. since yesterday am getting 15-20kbps and when i phone them.. they just told me to reset my livebox in 10mins and it will be ok.. but seem thats a joke!
Since ever the connection was doubled, I can no longer be traced as a Mauritius citizen! !WTF.
I’m a heavy gamer and I spend most of my time playing online. Before the speed increased, I had a Mauritius flag next to my name in the online gaming server. Since Monday, I now have a unknown flag which means that the server can no longer decide from which country am I. WTF.
The flag is ???
And If anyone is interested, they can visit my blog for some speed analysis which I did for the last few days.
@Avinash–> Did you experience any slowness on Monday and Tuesday night?
Emailing MyT is as helpful as a stray duck lost in Sahara desert.
No offense to anyone.
To Ashesh:
No. I did not have time to play with server virtualisation.
To Hwoarang:
202.123.2.6 and 202.123.2.11
To Tushal:
According to Sabrina, MT has been given a new range of IPs and it will take some time for everyone to know that. For instance, Google was sending me on Google.de (in German!!!) the other day.
to-day, i got my adsl connection back!
It seems that the issue of not getting full speed on international severs has been resolved for me!
Last Result:
Download Speed: 1000 kbps (125 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 199 kbps (24.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
@ Sabrina
Thanks a loadz sabrina!!!!
The guy at Telecom phone yesterday around 19.00.. and my problem seemed to be solved given i’m surfing at high speed (watching youtube clip without pauses youppi!!! :))
indeed me two i was described being in London.
so guys, anyone here has got that 2MB?
what’s the sensation LOL
only 125KB/s for the 1MB download then..so about 20mins to download a 100mb file..
hmmm
i’m a heavy downloader, i know i’m eating you bandwith guys..just can’t help it…:p
@ jens/Nitish
Glad your connection probs are resolved. Alas I’m not getting good speeds on my torrents tonite ROFL (coordonnier mal chausse)
Anyone out there local downloading Lost/My Name is Earl/Medium/Heroes/24H/Criminal Minds/CSI NY……share, share, SHAREEEEEEEEEEEE
@ Tushal
@ Avinash
Still being teleported? Blimey, even then I don’t get to travel and am stuck in Mauritius
@Tushal
Gimme a few online gaming sites plz? I want to have a go an online gaming in my spare time (rare commodity)
@Emmerdeur
You could download a series (350MB) in an hour…that’s way too fast :P
hey guys, needs to confirm something with you. i read in the newspaper that VoIP has been introduced. Can you confirm such?
From le Mauricien of Today:
“Une nouvelle offre multi-play a été également introduite, soit le My.T 512 Kbps avec les 15 chaînes internationales, plus de 500 programmes de VOD (vidéo à la demande), la Wi-Fi et la téléphonie VoiP, et ce à partir de Rs 999 par mois. “
@ Emmerdeur
It’s referring to Sezam on your fixed line at home (MyT Talk)
@myself
I’m getting 50KB on my torrents now !! Pity most of the seasons are over :-(
@ Sabrina.
Check your email :)
P.s i have some serials on a local server which can be downloade at 2MB/s ;)
@sabrina
Anyone out there local downloading Lost/My Name is Earl/Medium/Heroes/24H/Criminal Minds/CSI NY……share, share, SHAREEEEEEEEEEEE
I think you should rephrase it to:
Anyone out there local downloading Lost/My Name is Earl/Medium/Heroes/24H/Criminal Minds/CSI NY……leech, leech, LEEEEEECCCHHHHH
Most Mauritians are well known for closing their torrents right after their downloads are over. :D
hi avinash and everyone!
I saw france 5 has been added today and a few useless channels..
Any1 knows what are the other channels to be added?do you know if france 4 is in it???because it is broadcasting the facup games:(
btw, im sure most of the channels that would be added are already free to air!
i usually look at fta channels, and as far as i remember, fashion tv, france 24.. and a few other channels are already fta in mauritius, meaning if you have a satellite dish big enough and a fta decoder you can have them..therefore it seems they are packaging a set of free channels and selling it to us.:)
btw if any1 knows a good installer of fta channels, please refer.i have the decoder, but my dish is too small to capture the free channels.i get only kanal austral.lol..avinash, please create a topic on it, maybe someone will reply me then:)
VoIP ain’t for domestic calls like they do in Europe? :S
Hello here..
Well just want to know how can i solve my prob..after my upgraded adsl 1mb.. my connection is worst.. before with my 512myT ,i was getting around 60kbps 27/7 download. Now i am getting not more than 30kbps in the afternoon…when i phone MT..just told me that they would reset my line and reboot my livebox.but am still getting very low connection.Its only after midnight that my connection increased.
I play a lot on playstation network since i got my 1mb but i can do it only at night.You thinks that because of the FUP ?
Sabrina: Can you help?
@BlackAdda – “Can you imagine? I’m still using ZTE’s ZXDSL 852 modem ;D” Nice!!! Loved that modem. It sucked @ times but I loved it. How old is your modem?
@ Sailesh: check UR mail !
@ Ram: well, I try leaving them on at least for a week before removing..but you’re right I can rarely find local peers/seeds when I’m downloading
@ Kirsten: will need your phone no (email me). but it seems that off-peak you’re fine.
@ mehdi: we have no rights to broadcast France 4 over the indian ocean..
@Shah
It’s 3 and 1/2 years old and still rocking despite its very primitive look.