boycotting your ISP?

yeah alot of people in Bahrain are angry but they cannot actually boycott the ISP in exchange for another because batelco is the only current ISP in the Island.

What people are planning to do is chnage their mobile accounts from batelco to MTC Vodafone.

I doubt there'll be a big enough change, or enough ppl boycotting to really affect Batelco..! But atleast Batelco is aware that people are angry and dissatisfied...

hmm you know I just thought of a crazier solution

what you guys should do is to convice the people in Batelco how WRONG their statistics are, how bout those disgruntled users create an overload of bandwidth to their networks for instance

1-If you choose to pay for difference, DON'T PAY THEM THE EXTRA FEES or DON'T PAY AT ALL
2-If you choose the bandwidth throttle, KEEP USING IT TO THE LIMITS

the more people do this the bigger the strain there is on the networks leading to Batelco having second thoughts

crazy yes but it could be worth a try.....................

I dont know why but it seems some decision makers are getting dumber at Batelco.Instead of making this a good thing by reducing prices,they made it into a bigger fiasco...Now other companies are making the most out of it.

I heard lightspeed might be providing broadband to residential consumers soon.

Yeah... Something we just learnt in our Marketing course... Its like the good they did (Faster Speed) is being cancelled out and overlooked because of the bad thing (Donwnload limit).... Consumer's won't remember or appreciate the good much, they'll only think of the bad and grumble....

Here is Batelco's Message writing by the CE Mr. Peter K.
I know it's long but it'll explain the reason of introducing the new packages
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear “boycott Batelco” team,

I have visited your website and read many of your comments. I do understand the concerns.

I will defend the right of anyone to express his or her view about a matter and welcome the opportunity to offer you an alternative viewpoint to yours. I hope the exchange of information remains non personal, unemotional and is facts based. I also hope that my letter is made available to all your members who are visiting your site so they can read the alternative view to yours and make up their mind on this matter.

You claim in your website that Batelco is lying to its customers, we are misleading and our motivation is simply driven by greed. Of course I disagree and I am concerned about untrue statements made by your group which are aimed to smear and deliberately devalue the reputation of one of the most important companies contributing to Bahrain’s success.

Let’s look at the facts.

Batelco has recognized that its current pricing for the use of the internet is too high by global standards. We developed a new range of prices starting as low as BD10 pm for 256Kbps and submitted them to the TRA. We are working with the TRA to review conditions imposed on the BD10 service. Once we have reached agreement we will launch this plan as well.

Our goal remains one of making internet access in Bahrain more affordable and at higher speeds.

With the new packages we are introducing, the facts are that:

- 100% of our existing volume customers will be better off both in terms of speed, volume and price/value;

- The vast majority, ie. 86% of existing Batelco customers on the Flat Unlimited packages will benefit from the new packages;

- 100% of Flat unlimited customers will be better off in terms of terms of speed;

- A number of unlimited customers, less than 14%, may not get any new benefit and some may be worse off with the new thresholds levels.

Batelco today has approximately 23,000 broadband customers.

In analyzing the usage of our customers over the 12 months in 2005, we identified that the majority of our unlimited customers have 256Kbps access. 91% of these customers have a monthly average usage of 2.2GB.

When we analysed all the flat unlimited users (256Kbps + 512Kbps), the average usage was 7.4GB at an average cost of BD40 pmonth.

We are now offering for BD 40 pmonth usage up to 15GB, twice the current average and at 1 Mgps speed. Alternatively, if a customer has the same average usage per month, they will stay with 8GB at 512Kbps speed and pay BD30 pmonth.

Previously we used to charge 30 fils/MB above threshold levels. Our new packages now charge only 10 fils/MB, ie. 66% off.

Therefore, approximately 86% of our customers will be better off in terms of pricing and access speeds.

These are the facts that have led us to conclude that we are offering better value to customers and making the internet more affordable for the vast majority at higher speeds.

Our analysis has been based on assessing usage patterns of 23,000 customers. You state that you “surveyed 10 Bahraini internet users who you consider average users”. Whilst I accept your findings based on these 10 users, I will allow the readers of this email to conclude if research based on 23000 users is more factual and not misleading versus a sample of 10 users.

Furthermore, because Batelco does value its customers we have introduced a new Customer Care initiative for internet users as follows:

- All customers will receive an email notification and will also get an SMS notification (if they have a mobile with Batelco) when their usage has reached 75% of their designated threshold limit;

- Also once customers exceed their credit limit as per the following levels, their speed will be reduced to 64Kbps and any usage at this speed will be free of charge for the remainder of the month:
- 512Kbps package at BD30 pm, once usage reaches BD 40pm;
- 1Mbps package at BD 40 pm, once usage reaches BD 50pm;
- 2Mbps package at BD 60pm, once usage reaches BD 70pm.

- The reduced speed will be implemented once the package threshold (ie. 8GB, 15GB, 20 GB is reached). At the onset of the next month their downlink speed will return to the normal designated speed of their package.

The Batelco Customer Care initiative is introduced to ensure that no customer uncontrollably spends more on the internet than their original intention and we believe we are acting very responsibly to protect our customers.

Of course if a customer informs us during the month when he/she may have reached such a limit that they wish to have complete open access to the internet, we will advise them of the extra cost of 10 fils/MB, record their request details on our CRM, ensure they are the account holders and satisfy their request.

Customers, not Batelco, will have the power to make a decision of how much they wish to spend on internet access and usage. Customers also today do have the ability to check their usage levels 24×7 by going to www.batelcoeshop.com.bh. They will continue to do so with the new packages. Batelco will not have the power to charge customers unlimited fees for exceeding their package threshold levels. Your claim that we will charge a customer for up to “603 GB in a month” thus is not correct and unnecessarily misleads internet users.

We do care about customers not overspending on a service despite its unlimited usage and our Customer Care initiatives will protect customers. Other industries (for example financial institutions) have similar customer care procedures when it comes to credit card usage for the protection and benefit of customers whilst minimizing bad debt.

You state that transition to these plans is not optional but you also state that customers have choice of internet providers and you recommend alternatives to affected users.

Batelco like any other commercial enterprise conducts business with its customers on commercial terms and conditions. As is the case with most customer agreements in Bahrain and worldwide, it is standard practice to reserve the right to change, withdraw and introduce new packages.

Again, whilst we recognize that we are affecting less than 14% of our customers, you need to acknowledge that we are benefiting 86% of existing customers. There is a risk some of our customers will pursue other offers from ISPs, of course we are concerned. However, we will be developing alternative offers in the future. Every business has commercial risks and we understand that some customers may opt out for alternative offers. We regret this and will continue to review packages to win them back.

Regarding your comments about trying to stop illegal users let me make a simple point. If the internet is very affordable users do not need to share. We have made it known that we want to introduce BD10pm to allow everyone to have access to the internet. Low cost packages will address illegal usage. Also you need to acknowledge that when illegal users (small minority) who are sharing internet connection with many others and continually download, deprive others from using the internet at the performance they are paying for.

Batelco has admitted that some customers will receive little or no benefit, less than 14% of our broadband customers. We are acknowledging this fact but some of your statements clearly mislead the public when you state that all customers will pay more. I have explained above that this is not the case for the vast majority of our customers.

Your website also contains a lot of misleading information (eg. ADSL is losing money, crookless and brainless costing models, etc). I do not believe it is constructive to debate with you these unsubstantiated allegations and emotional comments. If you have proof of wrong doing please produce it formally so I can act upon it - general accusations and unsubstantiated allegations do not help.

I just wish to state that Batelco today employs extremely competent professionals, they use best practice costing models, our analysis is audited by external auditors and professional regulatory TRA officers with vast experience in complex analysis. It is unfair and unwarranted to imply such hard working people are incompetent. I respect your right to express your opinion but in this case, it is wrong.

In your statements you are also advocating the need for total unlimited packages. We do recognize that new applications will require additional bandwidth. Batelco will continue to research the needs of its customers and introduce additional packages to cater for these “bandwidth hungry” applications as is the case with business users.

A number of companies do have unlimited offers but in the fine print of their terms and conditions do state that unfair usage will be limited to 10 GB or 15GB. Batelco has been upfront with our new packages rather than hide it in the fine print of commercial contracts.

Your need to get totally unlimited usage for a fixed price is a concept which needs commercial balancing. It is naïve to conclude that users who download 7.4GB or 15GB or 150GB or 603GB per month should all pay the same price… You state that “you should be entitled to a completely unlimited package without any constraints”. This is extremely unrealistic. In the world today, “user pays” principle is fair and a sound sustainable business model – companies should not apologise nor be defensive whether in telecommunications or other industries.

High users should pay more for a resource or a service versus low users. Of course, high users should pay “less per unit” recognizing that economies of scale apply to high users of any product or service. I don’t believe we can live in a world where, say, we pay BD40 a month for petrol but we can use as much or as little as we like; BD 40 a month for electricity irrespective how much we use or pay BD40 a month for a loan, irrespective how much we have borrowed. There are many such examples across various industries. No company can survive on “unlimited use” of a resource for a fixed price. Access to the internet and internet usage is a resource in demand by many and yes, it does involve millions of dinars in capital expenditure to provide.

We are aware, for example, that there are “teenage users, heavily downloading from the internet”. Your survey sample of 10 also confirms that you are concerned about these specific users. How do we address the needs of these users?

Here is an invitation: let’s form a teenage internet user forum which Batelco sponsors so these teenagers can help Batelco develop new internet services aimed at the needs of such a segment and/or improve the development of internet services in Bahrain for heavy users…

Batelco has not ruled out the availability of an unlimited packages for ever. In such a forum, we expect both groups (teenage users and Batelco product & marketing managers) to share information and educate each other on user needs, accuracy of information, commercial models and constructive dialog on facts and reasoning.

I am genuine about this invitation for a joint development forum because I also believe it will serve as an informed users’ forum rather than your group making a lot of assumptions and offering unsubstantiated views and comments. I am not certain what assurances you want regarding your confidentiality and anonymity - I will guarantee such. I am prepared to understand what assurances you may need from Batelco to offer you such “protection”.

I am delighted with your passion and organizing skills to protest about the internet packages we are introducing and congratulate you for the effort you are making to openly debate these matters. I also respect your right to freedom of expression as I stated earlier and hope that such dialog is not based on inaccurate and emotional claims which may ultimately hurt your cause.

We respect the views of all our customers and our employees. We do listen and we always try to improve the quality and value of our services. We do employ intelligent and motivated people and we are creating a performance based culture in Batelco to better serve the needs of our customers.

We are investing BD21m on “Broadband Bahrain” project to ensure Bahrain has world leading IP and internet access capability and make the internet affordable for all.

Significant investments have been made in infrastructure and services for the benefit of all customers.There is always room for improvement. We have kicked off “six sigma” process reviews to improve quality and service and, reduce the cost of our services so we can pass benefits to consumers. In the last 12 months alone we have improved customer service, based on external research studies and have reduced the costs of many of our services despite lengthy submissions and negotiations with the TRA. We believe in “continuous improvement” in Batelco and we aspire to do more to win the loyalty of our customers in an increasing competitive environment.

94% of our workforce are Bahrainis and we are proud of this fact. We do want to employ more talented Bahrainis and have introduced performance management to weed out non performers and make room for new talent.

Batelco today is a commercial organization and we do not apologise for working towards giving our shareholders a fair return for their investment in Batelco whilst delivering value to customers. Many companies make substantial profits which reflect the significant investments they have made over many years. Batelco managers are not greedy. We are professional managers and people leaders applying a balanced scorecard in the way we run a modern business. Balance between customer needs, employee needs, shareholder requirements and caring about the community we live in. There is always room for improvement in any company including Batelco.

We employ over 1600 people who in turn support many family members through their jobs. Batelco also donates millions of dinars every year to community and needy organizations right across the Kingdom. We are socially responsible as well as running a business which enables commerce and communications in the Kingdom.

Whilst you lobby for support of your specific need, please remember that damaging the reputation of a significant and important company in Bahrain through generic spread of misleading information and general boycott messages may indeed hurt far too many Bahrainis versus the benefits you are seeking for a few.

I have offered you an alternative, more powerful way to influence our product development and pricing decisions. Your call.

Yours Sincerely,

Peter Kaliaropoulos
Chief Executive Officer

Still...Market in the past doesnt predict usage in the future with something like Internet or anything for that matter in the field of technology..

Peter K can get away with such an answer in a forum but not like this written down,his rationale brings up more issues..

Still I think they really made a mess out of this one...Their marketing people must have been asleep,and should do their homework when it comes to Bahrain,Bahrainis and the region.

Wow, i for one am quite satisfied and impressed by his response...!

Elmahri said:

Here is Batelco's Message writing by the CE Mr. Peter K.
I know it's long but it'll explain the reason of introducing the new packages
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click to expand...

Here's the Boycott Team's response. It's as long as Peter's message and actually sounds more professional by refuting every single point he made. I don't think Batelco have any more excuses... I was so happy reading this response that I just made an account here to show you how wrong Batelco is Seriously this is very impressive... has to be an inside job because they knew how to beat Peter even though he's a very good politician

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Peter Kaliaropoulos,

We would like to thank you for taking the time to write to us and for taking our concerns seriously. Your personal endeavor to address this issue shows that you do indeed listen to your customers. That is a welcome change from the PR fronts we have grown accustomed to in this region of the world. We respect your actions and highly applaud your determination to stand up for your company in writing to us, and talking to us personally in an open forum.

Your message to us as well as our response is now posted on our website. We encourage everyone to read your views in detail, and use logic instead of emotions to make up their mind on this matter.

We would like to address the facts you have presented in your response.

The comprehensive analysis you present indicates that 14% of user may be worse off, and that the average usage for unlimited users is 7.4GB.

We do agree based on your calculations that 86% of users might be better off for the short term. However, we maintain that you could offer different packages so that 100% of your users are better off with no exceptions, and that every user is important whether they are within a minority or a majority.

We strongly believe that catering for high users and providing a low cost package are not mutually exclusive options. Your BD10 service could have been easily complemented with another unlimited usage service. We see no reason why offering one service should prevent you from offering the other.

We would also dispute your facts because they are historical. While the use of historical data is generally accurate in other fields, that just isn’t true when it comes to the Internet because of the unpredictable creation and adoptation of new technologies.

Your calculations do not cater for growth. If the average usage was 7.4GB in 2005, then there is no telling if it will double or triple in 2006. In 1999, Napster caused a major increase in global Internet bandwidth usage, which never went down again. In 2004, the BitTorrent protocol caused another global increase which remains to this day. This year we have seen the birth of a new web; one that relies on video and asynchronous data transfer. Who is to say that we will not get another paradigm shift in usage patterns this year?

By maintaining that 7.4GB is an average figure, you are setting an upper limit for Internet usage, preventing the technology from growing, and possibly causing this average usage figure to decrease, because it is now associated with a cost. The full potential of the web will be lost.

We are technologists. We understand how the Internet works and use it to the full potential. Our percentage may have only been 14% in 2005, but that too is bound to grow as a new generation of Internet users immerges.

That growth is organic, and our fear is that by introducing static packages which may not change for years, you will forever hurt the evolution of Internet technology in Bahrain. No longer will the average usage increase because users are watching what they are doing, so usage calculations will remain low and 8GB will seem to be enough forever.

Who is to say that 6 month from today, the majority of users won’t be high users? Perhaps in 2007, 50% of users will be downloading an average of 30GB per month. We will never reach the full potential of the Internet because your are setting limits today based on 2005.

You do this now in favor of increasing penetration, but we assert that Internet penetration and technology enhancement are not mutually exclusive, and can both be served concurrently. It is not an issue of quality versus quantity, but a request for both.

Your calculations for fair threshold allocation must be based on a visionary future outlook with a grasp of technology. We as technologists have this vision and look up to places in the world where people have 50Mbps unlimited ADSL connections for $40. It pains us to hear people who ask why anyone needs so much bandwidth. Innovation and creativity cannot be strifled; the first step in advacing our nation is getting over the norms and yearning for what is better.

We should look forward to the future, and not to the past.

You have stated that we recommend alternative companies to the customers, but we have said on our site that there are no viable alternatives to Batelco. We understand that going to 2-way satellite technology is a step backwards as it involves huge latency and shaped usage, but do so to make a statement with our actions, not just our words.

Until there is active competition to provide Internet services via fixed lines, or through the 3.5GHz band, then Batelco is the only viable option for a serious user, and that user will remain suppressed when it comes to unlimited usage.

Additionally, because Batelco is no longer offering unlimited usage packages, competitors will have no reason to do so either. They will instead focus on offering higher thresholds at lower prices, and users will remain limited.

You correctly state that we use emotional comments which harm the debate. Please excuse us for doing so. We are Arabs, and it is in our nature to garnish sentences with prose and highly emotional phrases. To us, it adds more to the debate and enforces a point. Keep in mind that this is a highly emotional issue for us 14%, because the Internet has become an indispensable part of our daily life. By controlling the Internet, you are impacting us personally and our emotions are accordingly high.

As for the unsubstantiated allegations we make, we would like to say that we have relayed our information from numerous sources, which we cannot reveal. For that reason, we agree that those comments shall remain unsubstantiated.

We respect your desire to defend your employees, and will not argue the internal workings of your company any more—that is none of our business. An opinion was delivered, substantiated or not, and it is with you now. We will not raise any more points pertaining to Batelco employees or internal procedures.

We shall continue to focus on our main concern as customers, which is the packages that directly impact us, and not the circumstances which indirectly created them.

You state that “No company can survive on ‘unlimited use’ of a resource for a fixed price.” We strongly disagree with that point.

Today, restaurants are offering you “all you can eat” buffets for a fixed price. Property owners are offering unlimited electricity and water usage for a monthly fixed rate. In today’s world, you can rent unlimited DVDs for a fixed monthly rate, download unlimited music for a monthly subscription fee, and get a loan at a fixed interest rate irrespective of how much you borrowed. There are many such examples across various industries.

But let us stay away from analogies and unrelated industries. In the telecommunications industry which is our concern, we insist that global trends show that the majority of countries in the world, and all of the countries in the developed world, have an unlimited Internet usage plan on offer. But let us not go too far, our neighbours in Qatar, UAE, and Kuwait are doing it as well, and their packages are here to stay.

Some companies do have misleading terms of service as you mention, but an informed customer always has a perfectly acceptable unlimited usage choice at a reasonable price. If threshold limited packages are on offer, they are offered at substantially lower prices. The equivalent of this would be Batelco offering an Unlimited usage package for BD 50, and a Threshold package for BD 5.

In reality, there is no such a thing as truly unlimited, and that is how companies are able to offer it. You cannot eat unlimited amounts of food because your stomach will be full, and you cannot use unlimited water in a month because the faucet is too narrow.

When it comes to broadband, using the 1Mbps connection as an example, you technically cannot download more than 300 GB of data in one month. Comparing to regional and international norms, we believe that your price for 300 GB is not reasonable. 10 fils/MB is exaggerated, and a more reasonable price would have been 50 fils/GB.

Our solutions to address the current situation are not extreme. We offer three suggestions which are acceptable to us for the time being, and there might be other solutions:

- Keep the current unlimited usage packages to complement your new offerings. This allows for unlimtied 512kbps connection for BD50. Or,

- Increase the bandwidth shaping option from 64k to 50% of the connection speed. This allows for unlimited 512kbps connection for BD 40. Or,

- Reduce the price per GB from BD 10.24 to BD 0.050. This allows for unlimited 512kbps connection for BD 40.

We believe that any of these options are acceptable as a compromise for the time being only. What we are effectively doing is creating an unlimited usage package without constraints, but within the bounds of your new product offerings, to avoid any delays caused by creating new packages or going to the TRA.

We acknowledge and highly praise your efforts in giving back to the community. The millions you have spent in donations and infrastructure have not gone unnoticed. But please understand that to the average consumer, these amounts fall short in light of your annual revenue announcements. You reserve the right to look after your share holders, and that is a side-effect of the economic model we operate in, and not Batelco’s fault.

We disagree that our actions might hurt too many Bahrainis versus the benefits we are seeking for a few. We instead believe that only a small minority will benefit from Batelco’s profitability, and the employees are not part of those benefiting.

To that purpose, we have raised our concerns, and believe that if you might hurt 14% of your users versus the benefit of 86%, then we are only hurting 1% of the Bahraini population who are Batelco stakeholders versus the benefit of 99%.

But it doesn’t have to be that way, we want everyone to benefit, and to cater for 100% of the population. By introducing any of our suggestions, Batelco can still increase Internet penetration and cater for the needs of all customers without exception.

Batelco is a big company, and will surely pass this incident and continue to operate more successfully than ever under your management. The negative media received is trivial compared to what has been said about Batelco in the past 10 years.

This negative PR will easily be forgotten. What is important is that the consumers have spoken and a channel has been opened.

It is the first time in Bahraini history that a consumer campaign is highlighted to the general public. It is the first time that a CEO personally steps up and addresses the concerns of the customers, breaking down the PR walls. We admire your respect of freedom of expression even if you disagree with that expression, and will refrain from making inaccurate and emotional claims.

We are thrilled by and accept your initiative to start a joint development forum between the customers and Batelco product and marketing managers. This forum is not simply for “teenage” users as you stated, as they are only a subset of technically inclined users. The forum should be joined by any technically inclined Internet users who understand our concerns.

This forum should be established in the open discussion organized by the BIS on May 14th. We ask that the floor be open for customers to step up and join this forum after the discussions are over. We are not nominating any specific people for that purpose, but we are confident that the right people will be there.

We ask any interested and knowledgeable consumers to attend the open discussion on the 14th and step up to join the joint Batelco/consumer forum.

We are delighted that you said “Batelco has not ruled out the availability of an unlimited package,” but ask that such a package be available as soon as possible, especially since we have raised all our points above and do not foresee any additional conclusions from the joint forum. Also, the TRA approval of such a package might be delayed for a very long time, as more competitors are becoming active in the Bahraini market. We don’t not want to wait another year or two for a new package, and insist on a viable solution today, not tomorrow.

Peter, you have shown us that you are a reasonable and honest leader. We urge you to reconsider your offerings, be it in light of the points we have made in this response, an open discussion, or the joint forum which we are happy to join.

We will continue to maintain the need for a reasonably priced unlimited usage package. There are viable compromises which we will accept for the short term, as long as no measures will be taken in the future to charge for additional usage. But based on our above vision, we will continue to campaign for unfettered unlimited usage on all your new packages. We want unlimited usage for every user. That is the only way to embrace the future of technology in Bahrain, and we hope you can share that vision with us.

Our website will continue to deliver updates to this cause. Our original comments will be archived as a historical record for this initiative, and not for attacks against Batelco. The guestbook is an open forum for users to express their personal opinions.

We believe you have sent the right type of response, and we await the right decision regarding the future of Internet connectivity in Bahrain.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Sincerely,
The Boycott Batelco team

Wow...!! A war of words... Now i'm swayed back to the Boycott Batelco team's side..!! I love the letters, very powerful..!

BP ur easily influenced...ur girl must be having a ball with u

I think it's BP's way for getting more girlfreinds, cos each one thinks she's winning then he changes his mind so the others try harder to please.

Skyline-BRN said:

I heard lightspeed might be providing broadband to residential consumers soon.

Click to expand...

Don't think so ...
Call them several times ...
No one can answer inquiries ...
says " the manager for trhe matter is not at the office "

Yesterday I call Batelco .... for having unlimited ADSL ...

yupp they mentioned all limited customer will be shifted at 26 of may 2006.

Customer need choice ... hope there will be much more ISP to come ...
if i saw in the TRA website .. they have at least 16 ISP license awarded ....

and

I hope batelco not take out the unlimited package ...

Limited package ... means that .... your life is in Batelco's hand ...as we don't have the bandwidth meter
even if we had bandwidth meter ... their mettering will valid for billing charge.

As there is only one ISP ... It would be hard to boycott batelco ....

Hope the wireless isp is coming to bahrain ...
I heard some of them is trying to enter here ..... just wait and see

The boycott team answer is a bit weak.
sorry to say that ...

It is all the business ....
Batelco is not limiting the bandwidth ...
You can use as high as bandwidth that you like ... as long as you pay.

You can still get 30 40 or even 100 GB per months ... napstering, bit torrenting, emuling , kazaaing ... or other P2P protocol that you might use.

here is the secret ...
count the billing that you have to pay ... :bash: :eek2:


And the batelco CEO letter is just ..... " bla bla bla "

Mr. Peter K ... If I am a batelco CEO ... I will make the same sound letter ... because my job is to make better financial report for the company from time to time .... .... we all know that .... he eh he

150 BD in 20 days

My friend has canceled the ADSL 40 BD package.
As batelco charged him 150 BD for just 20 days internet usage.

they are saying .. my friend already used 60 GB Bw .. ??

See the danger .. if ... they delete the unlimited package.

Can you guarantee the bandwidth meter from Batelco ?
even if you have bandwidth meter .. netflow or mrtg ... their meterring will be used to bill you.

anyone having the same experiences ?

man thatsb not good,,,, I hope the competition ISP comes in soon!

Well i think they charged us 10 BD more, and our extra GB is about to be finished, and if it does, we'll go back to the stone age with dial up connection, so i'm not using Youtube these days or downloading anything.. only messenger, and some websites... In a few days, like 2 or 3 we'll get the new 15 GB threshold for the month.. It sucks big time...!!!!

I used to like Batelco, and when ppl bitch about Batelco i say come on, they're not soo bad, but now i HATE THEM!!