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Why we charge for the Internet access for both time and data
flow? ...and more Questions
and Answers.
Q: Why do you
charge for both time and data?
A: We pay Telstra
for access to communication links. The charge consists of two components: one constant, and
the other one which depends on how much data flows on the link.
Q: Why
other ISPs do not charge for data flow?
A: Other ISPs also
pay Telstra, Optus, PanAmSat, or another large communication carrier depending on the
amount of data transferred. To make their plans look simple, they juggle their statistics
and make one group of users subsidize another group. |
Q: Why was it
necessary for you to introduce billing which includes data?
A: When 56K modems
became more and more popular, data flow and, consequently, our costs increased
considerably. However, instead of just rising our prices, we have lowered the price for
time, and introduced data charges, thus avoiding any dependencies of your internet costs
on how fast or slow your equipment is.
Q: How
come that other ISPs can offer simple "$1 per hour" (or similar) plans?
A: This requires
more detailed explanation. Below is a table analyzing a typical plan. Details are taken
from a printed brochure of a large ISP. The first panel of the brochure displays large
"only $1 per hour" title.
typical ISP offering
"Internet access at only $1 per hour" |
Hermes
Internet |
| $20 registration fee |
no registration fee |
| minimum 120 hours has to be purchased |
minimum standard package $80
(also $20 sampler with higher rates) |
| hours purchased have to be used within a certain time limits.
For example if you buy a "240 hours per year" package, it is assumed that you
will be using 20 hours per month. If you use 1 hour in a month, that month the remaining
19 hours are cancelled. |
there are no restriction, your access block can be used any
month for as long as it lasts. If you go on holidays, your funds are waiting for you,
nothing is deducted or reset during this inactivity period |
| if you have 120 hours per year plan, it actually means 10
hours per month. Using more than 10 hours in a month starts penalty billing at much higher
rates (typically double or triple the expected rate). This is despite you having plenty of
funds left for the remaining part of the year |
no penalty rates. You can use your account at any time, and
the rates are the same at all times |
| access timed in 15 minutes blocks |
access timed in 1 sec blocks, at the end of each session
rounded to the nearest minute. Data measured in blocks of 1 byte |
| lower price for more hours? |
this is one of the oldest marketting tricks. Try to see it
the other way around: the lowest price you are quoted is for very high usage, and this is
actually the base price, calculated to be profitable. All our access is charged at the
same rate, we do not have any "special deals". While we do offer a sampler $20
package with higher rates, this is to cover administrative costs, and this account is not
recommended for regular users. All regular users pay identical rates, no matter how often
and for how many minutes or hours per week or per month they use our service |
| if you find that the package you bought does not fit your
usage pattern, you can change to another plan, but there is an administration fee |
you can change from your current plan to any other available
plan at any time, there are no administrative fees |
| if you feel that the packages offered are not suitable, and
want to leave, there is an account cancellation fee of $50. This is on the top of what you
have paid already. |
there is no account cancellation fee (access fees are non
refundable) |
| "proxy trap" – compulsory use of proxy, often
so called "transparent proxy", without members even knowing about it. This
allows ISP to save around 20-30% of data transfers between ISP and the Internet |
proxies are an involved subject, some people benefit by using
proxies, some not. It depends on what you use the Internet for, how you use it, etc.
However having proxies is always beneficial to ISP. Our proxies are optional, we do not
force anyone to use them. If you wish to experiment with proxy server, see if you like it,
you can do it at any time. The decision is yours, we do not force the proxy on you to save
us some money |
| expensive technical support – business hours only,
"190" phone number, billed directly by Telstra to your telephone account at a
rate of $2 per minute |
technical support at no additional cost. E-mail questions
answered typically within hours. Members only technical-notices list where all members can
discuss various technical issues |
Q: How come
that some ISPs can offer unlimited access for, say $30 per month?
A: Firstly, communication
charges paid by ISPs in large cities (Sydney, Melbourne, etc) are much lower than in
remote areas. At this stage Telstra considers "47" phone area to be a remote
region. Secondly, our aim is to provide the highest possible quality of Internet access.
It is our choice not to compete in a segment of the market which offers budget, lower
quality access, slow connections, congested lines, and busy signals. Finally, check
carefully what if really offered. It is not unusual to see many conditions associated with
an "unlimited" offers, for example when you can access the Internet, what is
maximum allowed length of a session, how many sessions per day you can have, etc.
Q: How do I
know that you provide high quality access to the Internet?
A: Every ISP claims that
their service is excellent. To help you compare we created a sample $20 account. This
account has higher access rates, but for only $20 (no account setup fee!) you can try our
service yourself. We trust that you find overall quality of the Internet access we provide
to be second to none. One difference which you notice immediately is that busy lines are
extremely rare due to very low modem per user ratio.
Q: Do you offer
free trail account?
A: No. We feel that
existing members of Hermes Internet should not have to fund trials of
"potential" new customers. For this purpose we offer $20 sample account (see
above).
Q: Do you see
your rates becoming in future simple "$ whatever per hour" or a "flat,
unlimited rate"?
A: It all depends on
Telstra, Optus, and other large communication carriers. As long as the communication
giants base charges on data, do not intend to provide cheaper communication access, and
consider our region to be "remote", we can not offer any other charging schemes.
The only way for us to do this would be to (a) raise our prices drastically, or (b)
compromise on access speed and overall quality.
Q: Do I need to
have a credit card to join?
A: No, you do not. We
require a credit card details only if you wish to use our "monthly credit card
account". For the most popular "$80" package you can also pay by a cheque,
cash, or a Postal Money Order.
Q: How soon my
new Internet account will be activated?
A: Typically, within 1
hour from receiving your details (a phone call is sufficient, you can also mail a copy of
Registration Form, or simply write the details on a piece of paper). You can also join our
service on line, from another Internet account, using our secure form. All setup
instructions are available on our Web site, we also mail to you a set of printed
instructions.
Q: I have heard
that satellite connection is cheaper?
A: Not much cheaper, but
at this stage it is less reliable, and introduces an additional link delay (so called
"latency"). The main disadvantage is that the quality of satellite connections
depends on weather conditions, and during heavy fog and rain periods may cut off
completely. However this technology is
Q: I can measure time, but how
do I know how much data I use?
A: Full information may be
obtained from our server by email, from specially set automated responder, or from our Web
site. It shows the length of your session, and the total amount of data flowing between
your computer and the Internet. Please see "Member Services" area for full
details.
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