To all of those who want to “blackout” Batelco tomorrow, we want to wish you all good luck. We are with you all the way! It is a good way to demonstrate our anger at Batelco and hurting their bottom line, even if temporarily.
If you are a business and cannot afford not to use your mobile tomorrow, we understand completely; however, may we suggest then that you support this initiative by not using at least part of the Batelco services? How about going into an SMS blackout for your company? Not sending faxes on that particular day or delaying paying your bill by one day?
Do anything tomorrow to demonstrate your displeasure at Batelco’s limited our Internet usage.
May 29th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
We usually send lots of SMS here at work, especially tomorrow. I’ll make sure it gets delayed.
May 29th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Is anyone aware the 15GB threshold batelco are forcing us to adopt is downstream as well as upstream? Ridiculous.
May 29th, 2006 at 1:27 pm
Check out this article, especially the bit about Dubai… http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5024874.stm
Why not file a complaint with amnesty international citing ‘economic censorship’?
May 29th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
T, yeah its always up+down for a threshold, it was like that before as well. The 15GB cap is what stinks.
May 29th, 2006 at 2:05 pm
How about a demostration, to sitdown for 5 minutes in one of the malls.
May 29th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
i think this kind of blockouts have to be done frequently from time to time.
May 29th, 2006 at 2:22 pm
You could file a complaint with Reporters Sans Frontiers Internet Desk in France citiing the denial of internet access, they would then issue a press release and ciculate an alert to parterning agencies and IFEX.
address is: internet@rsf.org
May 29th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
Guess what guys? Just got a call from someone who said they’ve just been warned that they’ve reached 75% of their download limit!
Anyone up for setting up a monthly counter? We can track how many people get their SMS warning and at what time of the month.
May 29th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
Got mine last night, I have used up 75%
May 29th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
I’ve just reached 75% as well, in one day. god help us
May 29th, 2006 at 6:09 pm
i reached 50% in a day, i agree with “ME” we should make a demonstration somewhere to get some attention,
up+down threshold that isjust unfair
May 29th, 2006 at 6:20 pm
guys that’s cuz billing has just started, I got mine yesterday, cuz my billing cycle is in two days, so basically, I got free MB for as much as 4 days, then after the two days I will be getting the full 15 GB, this time was only a fraction of it. Look at facts first.
May 29th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
anon, I DID look at the facts. if you click on your bill, and then select “unbilled” it will show you the entire downloads you made. They start logging your sessions from yesterday (28th), they gave me around 10 Gig until the 19th.
For the 28th I used 5GB and today it’s at 3 GB, exceeding the 75% I was talking about.
Please go away because I know you’re a batelco employee.. WE ARE NOT STUPID.. we know what we are talking about. This is crap and not fair so shut up and stop with the excuses.
May 29th, 2006 at 6:52 pm
I called the Batelco support number today to see whats going on and from when they are giving us 15GB.
The lady tells me, that only from the 1st we are given 15GB, and from yesterday (28th ) to June 1st, we got 3GB to use…and I already exceeded it….NO WAY I exceeded it, maybe I did 1GB max. I have no idea how they are counting our use, but I dont like it.
May 29th, 2006 at 7:27 pm
lets make batelco suffer… since the upload speed is not changing .. why don’t we open servers for ppl to download from us… we keep their upload busy.. and .. guyz please all of you don’t use the open system unless u r not going to pay them a dime.. and if you want the threshold .. no need to keep the 1gb/10bd batelco fraud.. don’t give them 10bd for free..
god bless us all..
peace
[ZoDiaC]
May 29th, 2006 at 7:43 pm
guys why don’t we do a mass shift to mtc.. for our mobiles.. since prices are almost the same and batleco’s mobile branch is giving them huge income .. hitting it .. would be good enough.. to make them feel that .. these customers giving you their hard earned money .. deserve a better service,, and deserve your respect.
peace
[ZoDiaC]
May 29th, 2006 at 8:28 pm
did anyone consider switching to orbit?
unless they’re limiting their packages
May 29th, 2006 at 8:59 pm
Orbit has a promising technology, but due to the latency and the limits imposed on the account, we do not recommend it.
You might want to read this comment for a good explanation of the issue.
May 29th, 2006 at 9:00 pm
how about switching mobile phones to mtc
May 29th, 2006 at 9:14 pm
we’re in the process of doing that at our company. 9 mobile within 3 months.
May 29th, 2006 at 10:18 pm
I’m already on MTC-Vodafone. It seems none of the limited competition has naything worth offering in terms of internet services to swtich to.
May 29th, 2006 at 10:58 pm
if just i can use same number when i switch to mtc, coz its hard to change if ur all relatives and friends know u through ur old sim
May 29th, 2006 at 10:58 pm
Do some good guys, please make a post with screenshots as how to check the threshold on the batelco site, because i can’t find it! Thank you!
May 29th, 2006 at 11:40 pm
i think that unless we make a new true step in applying pressure on batelco they will not go back.
this is part of the indirect negotiation between us and batelco.Batelco will always implement its schemes and wait for the response.
May 30th, 2006 at 12:28 am
i’ll not make any calls tom iam with u guys
May 30th, 2006 at 6:12 am
jamal, who’s a Batelco employee? fuck you and Batelco altogether. Seeda jumping to conclusions laa? Just for trying to give my opinion makes me an enemy? you know what? since you just wanna see what you wanna see, maybe I will support Batelco just so that people like you get more pissed off. I dont like what Batelco are doing, but I am not personalizing it and trying to be as objective as possible, but you come and brand me? Thanks a bunch.
May 30th, 2006 at 10:58 am
haha why were you so offended at being called a batelco employee.. it’s not like he called you donkey or something.. wow people really hate batelco don’t they.. i feel sorry for REALY batelco employees.. i hope they can find better jobs and quit soon
take it easy man we’re all on the same side even if we disagree, an enemy of my enemy is my friend. BOYCOTT BATELCO.
May 30th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
Yesterday at 12 PM I checked My Account On E-service I found they charged me 10 BD From yesterday afternoon I’m using 64Kb
May 30th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
yes, I am sorry if I over-reacted, but please, NEVER brand me as a Batelco member again. Just cuz someone tries to clarify his stuff doesn’t make him the enemy.
May 30th, 2006 at 6:42 pm
if you want to give batelco a lesson, a one day boycott will do nothing. What will affect their bottom line is disconnecting your mobile line and switching to MTC. I did this today… do good for yourself and other and switch over!
May 30th, 2006 at 7:37 pm
I switched My Mobile to MTC.
I’ll complete one month by the next week.
May 30th, 2006 at 10:31 pm
Well, my consumption since the 28th was 4 Gigs and I didn’t even use the Internet at all !!
I swear guys this is so damn fishy, I called them up asking them what happened? they said it was a MISTAKE?!
Any ideas???
May 30th, 2006 at 10:37 pm
Are they charging BD10 after you exceed ur limit and for a 64kbps!!!!
so basically you’re paying BD50 a month for some BAD SERVICE
!!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable
Back to the stone ages
thanks Batelco
May 30th, 2006 at 11:37 pm
So how did the blackout go?
I didn’t use my mobile, made no calls, didn’t browse — except for one or two emergencies. No browsing, no gossiping… it was quite refreshing actually.
May 31st, 2006 at 7:25 am
no ana, actually what happens is that you get charged at full speed until you are 10BD or 1 Gig above your threshold then your speed drops to 64K.
I checked my charges now I am 5 BD over threshold and 500 MB more and my line will drop, let’s see what happens.
May 31st, 2006 at 8:49 am
batelco is earning 0.9 million a month out of the BD 40 accounts. NOW do you all think batelco will give this up for you ??
well, this how business goes here !
if you want to do something then you’ll have to go one step higher in this attempt to apply pressure on them.
think of this step.
May 31st, 2006 at 12:34 pm
what kind of step are you suggesting Hussain?€
May 31st, 2006 at 1:03 pm
i suggest something that shows that we as customers are serious about our demands.
giving a batelco a warning/chance to change their dicision and a state a date where
something like mass account cancellation for one month should take place.
after one month if batelco changes its schemes, then that’s it;everything goes back to normal otherwise we continue our SERIOUS boycott.
i think that loss of money and Government interference are the only things that can make them change their minds.
i feel that all what we’re doing now is either not affecting batelco that they just implemented
their ideas or it is another step to test our insistence and ability to do something.
of course business people are excluded.
May 31st, 2006 at 4:41 pm
guyz.. lets all disconnect our batelco mobiles .. in one day .. so that we make them feel it.. and the news goes and they loose in stocks as well.. just set a date for us all to do it in the same day.. we want ques of people waiting to cancel their services
[peace]
zodiac
May 31st, 2006 at 4:55 pm
GUYZ lets all make a date for BAT-ELCO account cancellation… i suggest 6/6/2006.. JUDGEMENT day for Bat-elco is coming ..
May 31st, 2006 at 7:29 pm
I don’t know what all the fuss is about. I’m now on a BD40 1Mbps package. My usage when I was on a flat 512K package, was less than 1Gb. I’m now getting double the speed and paying BD10 less a month. How can I complain about that. Most of my friends are happy about the new packages also so guys stop whinging..and before you say anything I work for Citi Bank and not Batelco so cut the crap…
May 31st, 2006 at 7:34 pm
I forgot to mention that I get 15GB Free usage a month aswell that I’m never gonna use, so as far as I’m concerned it’s a much improved deal than before!!
May 31st, 2006 at 8:30 pm
Google…
Google news and reviews…
May 31st, 2006 at 9:29 pm
Jaffar, we are really and genuinely happy for you, and are glad that you have found your niche in the internetscape.
In Batelco’s parlance you are one of the 86% of users who will directly see an immediate benefit. As a concerned citizen, you might think of the remaining 14% who are not as fortunate as you are.
May 31st, 2006 at 9:40 pm
Jaffar, you’re paying BD 40 pm when your usage is less than 1 GB and you’re happy!! I don’t mean to offend you but this sounds so stupid. Please forgive us when we assume that you’re a Batelco man. Please have a look at our GCC neighbours and see how much they are paying for that 1 GB bandwidth!
1 GB ?? c’mon! why did you sign to Batelco’s previous unlimited package then? Why are you coming to a site where people are protesting against an unfair deal for them, just to tell them that what you’re doing is crab??
Did you say you have nothing to do with Batelco?
June 1st, 2006 at 1:27 am
In the UAE the price of Unlimited (150Gb) 1 Mbps connection is BD 25
That means the price of 1 Gb usage at 1 Mbps speed is BD 0.166, almost 170 fils.
So in the UAE they pay 170 fils per GB
Here you are paying BD 40 for 1 GB, same connection speed
I don’t see a reason to be happy about this
Rememer my friend, we can’t progress if we keep looking back or even where we are standing still and say we are happy this way… you have to look towards what’s coming in the future , and look up to those who are better than us like UAE, Japan, or unfortunately now even Sudan who are one of the most retarded 3rd world countries.
Bahrain is going back and that is the problem, not how much we download or whether it’s enough for 10% or 100%, it’s a matter of principle.
June 1st, 2006 at 8:38 am
well .. some creatures are so oblivious to whats going on around them .. they mistake anyone for god.. and they bend forward to them for any service even though they are paying through the nose for the crappy thing.. lets face it guyz.. there are ppl who use the net only to chat with girls and watch porn .. 1gb is more than enough for tham…
we in the other hand would like a better service.. because we feel a broadband is made for utilizing the internet to the max.. as media ..comunication and resource..
[Peace]
ZoDiaC
June 1st, 2006 at 9:54 am
reached it on the 1st day of the applying at 1am morning i got the msg ” your usage for the user-id —- has reached the volume limit, therefore the Volume/speed Control option will be applied.
June 1st, 2006 at 10:11 am
and as a reply to Jaffar, yeah i agree some ppl require internet to chat/browse least bandwidth consuming so we are not talking about you here. U can go for the so promised 10BD package. We are talking about US who really uses the net not for chatting or emailing. Its good for you bad for us. I hate the word limit. and now after i reached my limit in 1day!!!!! i’m on 64kbps .. cant even browse sites and even chat became slow, now its NotNet not SpeedNet or Broadband.
June 1st, 2006 at 12:57 pm
See below, internet broadband has been offered for free in the UK. This is what Batelco should do not take us back to the stone ages…shame on you Batelco..
Orange makes play in ‘free’ broadband space
31 May 2006
France Telecom today joined the ‘free’ broadband fray in the UK with the launch of its own bundled offering incorporating mobile, fixed, broadband and IP TV services.
Customers who sign up for any Orange mobile contract over £30 per month, for a period of 18 months, will also receive up to 8Mbps fixed broadband and a wifi-enabled Livebox at no extra charge - either for installation or on a monthly basis.
The Livebox has an inbuilt telephone adapter allowing users to plug their standard home phone in and make free Voice over IP (VoIP) calls nationally and to other Orange customers over evenings and weekends. For an additional £6 per month users can make unlimited anytime calls to any UK landline and Orange customers.
The move comes as the French operator is in the process of integrating its mobile, fixed and broadband divisions - Orange, Wanadoo, Equant and Etrali - which from today will all be united under the Orange brand.
Eric Abensur, vice president of broadband at Orange UK said that more products were in the pipeline for release over the next 12 months, including an IP TV service, a single address book accessible across all your communication platforms, and One Phone - a dual mode wifi/cellular device - which is being trialled in France from today. Sanjiv Ahuja, company chief executive added that remote control services for the home were also in the works, hinting at potential partnerships with home security companies.
On the business front, a landline offering for enterprises is on the table from today, with business broadband in the near future and a converged handset offering in the more distant future.
Orange will be taking subscriptions for consumer broadband from mid-June, with the expectation of actually launching the service at the end of June.
Bernard Ghillebaert, executive vice president of Orange UK said the company planned to unbundle 500 exchanges by the end of the year, giving it 40 per cent coverage of the UK population. This complements the 80 per cent UK population coverage the operator already enjoys from mobile services and the existing 200,000 Liveboxes it already has installed in the UK.
Providing broadband to consumers wrapped in what appears to be a ‘free’ offer, imitates strategies played out in the UK during the 90s when Freeserve launched free dial-up services and won a lead on the competition.
Last month, Carphone Warehouse - a mobile retailer better known for its lonely mobile phone characters than its maverick business practices - emulated last century’s boldest internet move and launched its own free broadband service.
The announcement by Carphone Warehouse allows users of the its fixed-line Talk Talk service to surf the Net for free, as long as they remain with Talk Talk which costs £9.99 per month.
June 1st, 2006 at 4:44 pm
thank you johny .
unfortunately for monopolist companies this makes no sense!! they only see people as moving dollars!
June 1st, 2006 at 7:35 pm
Before we are checking our e-mail daily, Now we have to check our e-mail and Remaining Free MB of the broadband.
June 1st, 2006 at 8:55 pm
Hussain:
dont forgat that you’ll still be charged for visiting batelco eshop site as well. !!