Priority Should Be Clear
@galenkp had a post a week ago (I think) about how his mobile service is getting more expensive, among other things. Most likely he's not the only one in this situation as inflation is a worldwide phenomenon and life is getting more and more expensive these days. No matter where you live, you're affected one way or another.
I often read unboxing posts on Hive and it's painful to see how some users are paying $30 - $40 for a router or a modem, to have the latest technology available in their country and get a device that it's outdated in other countries already.
My country is usually the firs on the list for all the wrong reasons. Shame, I know, but there's one good thing for which we're on the top of the list for good reasons and that is internet and telecommunications (price and speed).
I'm among the lucky ones as my internet and mobile service provider has its rates set in USD and the official UDS/RON rate is manipulated by the government, it is kept at the same level, so the changes are minimal. I'm always paying the same amount and this is not all.
Last month I stopped by the internet provider's office as I needed to change my contract and could not figure out how to do it online (lucky me). I had some business in that area, so I thought why not kill two birds with one stone. After the lady took care of my request, she informed me about their latest offer, according to which, if I were to extend my contract for another 2 years, I could get 50% discount for 4 months. This was a very generous offer, not to mention that all their services are dirt cheap already, compared to similar services in other countries. Two years is a long period, but I have no intention to switch providers as they are the best. So my answer was yes and signed the contract immediately.
I mentioned earlier in my post, how some of our users are paying $30 - $40 for a router or a modem, to have a decent internet connection. These devices are distributed for free by my internet provider and you also have the latest fiber link connection that guarantees you a 940 download / 450 upload speed. If you damage the router, you have to pay, but we're not fan of vandalism, so in most cases these devices become obsolete sooner than they deteriorate, in which case they get replaced with the newest technology available.
Customer service is excellent too. If you have a problem, you can either phone them for help and if that is not possible, they come in an hour and take care of whatever problem you have. Both cable and internet services are reliable, there are hardly ever any problems.
We live in a digital era, where a fast and reliable internet connection is key. I don't want to make a list of services we are using on a daily bases, that are depending on a fast internet service. If you live in a developed country, you are aware already.
This is not a temporary situation. Technology is developing with a breakneck speed and the more we advance, the more we reply on internet. I'm not talking about individual only, or household users, but companies as well.
Any internet provider knows how much we rely on their services and most likely some are taking advantage of the situation, by pumping prices. This is where the government should step in, work out a plan and support the industry. Should be a priority. Again, I'm not talking about my country as we're ok in this regard. I'm talking about other countries, where the infrastructure is weak to say the least and services are bad and expensive.
As I mentioned, we live in a digital era, where remote working is not just possible, but gaining ground every day. Attracting digital nomads is happening in a lot of countries but when it comes to decision making, internet costs and speed is one of the most important factors to take into consideration. Foreign investments are also dependents on reliable internet and telecommunication services, that is a no brainer.
Some of you, from African and South American countries may laugh at my post. Not because it's stupid, but because these countries are facing regular load shedding. If there's no electricity, there's no internet either, so ... you know, the electricity problems should be addressed first, before we can talk about reliable internet.
People tend to take everything for granted and I'm not any different. I'm used to this fast and cheap internet and tend to forget that I'm privileged in this regard and if I leave the country, I need to take into consideration much higher fees when making my budget and maybe settle for a less speed.
I'm just a very little drop in the big ocean, but I hope things are going to change in better in the near future.
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It’s interesting to learn that service providers provide routers for customers in some places of the world. I never would’ve imagined this.
In my country, to get a router from the service providers, you must be an outstanding customer of some sort. Maybe you do many transactions, or buy huge packages or offers. The point is that it’s given as an award for some sort of good customer behavior, but rarely for free.
I hope to see a time where service providers give out even modems to customers. That’ll be an interesting development to see here.
Hopefully that time will come. It's really good to get a router for free as it saves me a lot of money. Here you get the same services, this is not a bonus.
Service where we are here in the USA is mostly just expensive for something not necessarily all that reliable. The situation seems to be fairly consistent: You get really fast and reliable service in the cities; once you get a little bit outside, it becomes unreliable, and you have to go to cell/satellite providers.
We get our service from our cable TV network, even though we don't actually have TV... just Internet. And that costs 126 USD per month, which includes the modem rental fee, but we have our own WiFi router, which cost almost 300 USD to buy. So we should get really good service, right? But we live in a forested area, and every time there's a high wind it's a good chance the service will go out because branches/trees have fallen on the lines... which are still above ground.
I don't even dare to list how much I pay for the services as many of you would be shocked, but as I said, it's dirt cheap.
Remote areas are indeed a problem, as your options are limited, but I suppose we're in a way better position, compared to the US as remote areas are not as many. They are working on covering as much as they can and there has been progress on this front.
It sucks to know every wind, every storm can place you offline for a day or two.
It's the same here you get the router for " free" it's just added in the monthly fee but they won't tell you , but at least we have the freedom to use our own router like in build your own , you can use an old pc with 2 network cards and install something like PFsense or Opnsense if you know what you are doing :)
Combined with your own DNS server like Pi-hole or if you don't have the server option use something like opendns.com .
The benefit is that you have a lot more abilities to secure your internet connection.
Since our gouverment requires more and more things done online the ionternet connection here has become a necessity of life by law.
I try to protect my internet connection like the front door of my house with a decent lock (firewall ) :)
Hidden costs are not cool at all and not fair either. We also have the freedom to use our own router, but there's no need for that as they gave it to us for free.
In any case, good think you've found a solution.
You know, this kind of post makes me look back in history. Even in my life, I can remember having to link up to the interwebs using a dial up modem. If you've ever used those, you will know how far we've come since then. We do take so much of these things for granted these days. I would probably become a homicidal maniac if I had to use a dial up speed router again. What a nightmare. I'm glad you're getting good service there. Service has been on the decline in many industries for years, so it always make me smile when I read about having a good experience.
Have a lovely weekend Erika
Lol, dial-up times, don't even remind me of those times 😂🤦♀ When I bought my first desktop, it was so heavy I could hardly carry it home. Now my laptop is so light, I can carry it all day.
Thanks for the nice comment Emma and have a nice week as the weekend is over :)
And that's how I found out that we have the same internet provider. I'm as pleased as you are and glad to see that we can have something of quality. Plus the appreciation of King Charles III...
We most likely are using the same provider. I'm with them from the very beginning and I hope to keep it that way as they are the best. And yes, finally we're at the top of the list for something very good, not just for the shameful things.
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Thank you.
The flowers really captured my heart amidst the expensive mobile service.😁
Well, my mobile service is not expensive 😜
Here where I live, in Venezuela, the internet is quite cheap, like $5, but very, very slow.
So in my case I had to hire an internet provider from Colombia, the internet arrives via satellite (with an antenna) and the price is $35, which might not sound like much, but it is 7 times more expensive than the Venezuelan internet... Unfortunately it is the only way I have to have a moderately decent internet...
I'm really sorry to hear that @malos10. Life is difficult enough already, without extra expenses, but this one maybe worth it can help you make some money.
i actually work via online, so a good speed internet conection is a "must" for me jajaj
You're right. "Talk about good electricity first before you can talk of fast a better internet in this region called Africa". The world is changing on a daily basis and good internet access should be a top priority for everyone. Remote works are actually taking over the world now and without good internet connection one can do what he or she intends to do for the company they are working with. As you said at the beginning of the post that everyone is actually feeling this inflation in one way or the other. Things are expensive in our society this day and there is nothing the government wants to do about it. We just need to help ourselves and suite ourselves into any of this condition. People spend on a daily basis for good internet connection yet still can't make good use of it. The house I stay currently is a typical example of an area with poor internet connection. I'm shock that I can access the internet freely this morning. Without good internet everyone would be limited to do most task on a daily basis. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post ❤️❤️❤️