TomTom traffic costings

Howarduk · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 2:50 am Post subject: TomTom traffic costings

With some help from the people on this forum <thanks guys :D > I can now connect my telephone to my PDA in preparation for the traffic info promised in TT3.

I telephoned Tmobile my phone network and I have been informed that the cost of GPRS is a flat 0.75p per megabyte 24/7 for data downloaded.

My question is, does anyone happen to know firstly, how often TMC gets updated ? and secondly, how much data is actually given out on the update?

All I am trying to ascertain is how much its going to cost me on say a 2 or 3 hour motorway journey.

Howard

Darren · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 8:50 am Post subject:

The update rate is user configurable, you could choose to get an update before you begin your journey only or at a user definable interval say every 10 minutes.

Each update is in the region of 4k at most so it's not an expensive option at 75p per megabyte, Orange who I am with IIRC charge £3/Mb!
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Darren Griffin

Steveg · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 10:28 am Post subject:

Darren

Thanks for that answer as I too am interested in this feature - does your reply mean that the system will automatically make a call every 10 minutes to collect any information that may be available? If so does that mean that I could not use the phone during this time (I presume not) and is the information downloaded for the whole of the UK or is it specific to the journey you are currently navigating?

Will the update information still be accessed if you are driving with TT3 on but without navigation being used i.e. with moving map and checkpoint (speed camera) information but no navigation as such? I ask this because if I plan to drive to London I need TomTom when I get to London, well actually from Staples corner omwards, but I hardly reckon I need navigation help for the 200 miles or so of the M1 from Yorkshire, even I can figure out that journey! With this in mind however if there is a 15 mile tailback on the motorway I would like to be aware of it before I get to it - hence the usefullness of TT Traffic.

Any Ideas? - I am sorry I know I am asking questions that no one may know the answers to just yet, but I needed to pose them anyway.

Howard, I too am on TMobile, did they say how we would need to connect, would that be by using the web (WAP phone) or do we know if TomTom would supply another contact number for us to connect to?

Totally lost on how all this would work

Cheers

Steve

carlwi · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 10:55 am Post subject:

Guys,

I'd double check with T-Mobile about your GPRS Costs, as I've just left them as they were way too expensive. I'll think you might find that the cost you were given was per Kb and not per MB, as they were charging me £7.68 per MB of data!

Carl.

MrT · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 10:58 am Post subject:

I believe that connection will have to be by mobile internet GPRS as opposed to WAP GPRS. This will not be connections by telephone number but by internet access to a specific URL. Normally you would leave GPRS permanently on as you only pay for data transferred as opposed to minutes used. What you set up will be the polling time, how often it asks the server for an update, rather than how often to establish a GPRS connection.

I expect the traffic data will be collected to the PDA in a very similar manner to traffic-i (www.traffic-i.com). The difference will be in the software integration into TomTom.

The amount of data downloaded in Traffic-i is very small, I have never downloaded more than 10KB in an hour and mine is set to continuous. The actual amount of data downloaded depends on the amount of traffic data present which is determined by the number of traffic incidents. Traffic-i certainly downloads data for the whole of the monitored UK network.

Howarduk · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 2:21 pm Post subject:

Carl

Thanks for the warning, you are quite right I had it confused its 0.75p per kb. However, Tmobile are doing deals where you can buy extra bolt on Mb's the cost of which are as follows.

3Mb for £5.00
6Mb for £10.00
10Mb for £15.00
20Mb for £25.00
55Mb for £50.00

This is an allowance per month and if you go over that you are then back to 0.75Kb which as you say is £7.68 Mb

Something to think about then, so as well as the £50.00 annual fee you will also <with Tmobile anyway> have to purchase a Mb data allowance.

What started of as looking good is now beginning increasingly <to me anyway> as something not worth taking up.

Howard

Howarduk · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 2:25 pm Post subject:

Steve

Sorry, just saw your question. you connect through your GPRS bluetooth enabled telephone

Howard

Darren · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 2:52 pm Post subject:

Steveg · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 3:38 pm Post subject:

Darren this is splendid, just what I needed to know and I shall certainly consider it unless.......

MrT · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 4:30 pm Post subject:

02 charge no extra "rental" for the mobile internet GPRS service. Most of their tariffs offer 0.5MB per month inclusive and £2.35 per MB after that. From my own usage, 0.5 MB per month would cover traffic info. However I do like to play with my toys so the first few months of GPRs access will cost a little.

I must make it clear again, there are two type of GPRS, WAP and Mobile Internet, WAP will not work. The only way you could use WAP GPRS would be on a device like the XDA where where phone is part of the PDA and you were allowed access to the TomTom serverfrom your provider. WAP GPRS does not work where the PDA uses a separate mobile phone as a modem.

I do not appear to lose GPRS during a phone call, but it may be I maintain the connection, but data transmission drops or stops. Some phones have a setting for maintaining GPRS and phone calls.

carlwi · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 9:01 pm Post subject:

I've moved to Orange from T-Mobile, and on my tariff i get 3 MB for £4.00 a month, plus additinal free picture and text messages. They do not charge a annual fee for GPRS so I think it's quite reasonable.

Carl.

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