[Buzz_Dengue]

Slowing Down Blackberry ‘Abuse’

Vodacom also announced that, after finding instances of what it termed ‘abuse’ of BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) usage, it would ensure that BIS users exceeding a newly instituted 100 MB/month threshold, would have their connection speed reduced from 3G to 2G levels.

Vodacom said that it studied usage patterns to better understand the causes of congestion at peak times and found that more than 95% of BlackBerry data usage was attributable to less than 5% of users.

“We need to ensure that all BlackBerry users are able to enjoy the service that they pay for. When we realised that such a small minority was using the bulk of the capacity, we decided to implement measures that will ensure that BlackBerry users will enjoy a better browsing experience overall,” said Delport.

He added that steps have been taken to ensure that the 95% of the BlackBerry users using the service fairly were not impacted by those who were abusing the service.

Blackberry Enterprise users would not be affected.

Vodacom increases network capacity, acts on BlackBerry Internet ‘abuse’