After Vivadoubled the data transfer allowance for customers, I'm pretty sure there are many out there who want to know much they have used. The problem? They do send out an SMS to your device, but that is only after you transfer a certain amount (at 20GB, 30GB, 40GB used etc…). The Huawei software apparently seems to be configured for the prepaid version of the service. So if a post paid user checks their balance they would get:
This is where the magic of USSD codes come in ! All you need to do is modify a single file and you can start getting the software to show you your balance like so:
Note: This guide only works for the Huawei devices with the Windows interface below. However, if you can send USSD codes or find the config of other dongles/devices, the code for checking the balance is: *98888#
1. Remove "Read Only" from the following file by right clicking and visiting the properties:
C:\Program Files (x86) if you are on a 64-bit version of Windows.
2. Open up your text editor (Notepad or equivalent) and load the file above and look for the following sections related to balance:
<Postpaid>
<!-- The following four groups of functions,can show or hide,In the interface of the control order is here -->
<!-- Balance inquiries?"true" is show,"false" is hide?pos sain the dispaly order of UI,0 at the top,follow-up with an inferior race -->
<item name="Balance" value="false" pos="0">
<!--USSD balance inquiry command length?"0" is not limit,Non-0 at least enter a few letters -->
<command>*131#</command>
<Prepaid>
<!--The following four groups of functions can be configured to hide and display, respectively,in the gui on the order of the configuretion from here-->
<!-- Balance inquiries?"true" is Show,"false" is hide?pos interface shows the order of,0 is top,followed inorderof priority-->
<item name="Balance" value="true" pos="0">
<!--USSD balance inquiry command length?"0" is not limit,Non-0 at least enter a few letters-->
<command>*101#</command>
3. Change the code in those sections (bolded and enlarged above), *131# and *101# respectively to *98888# (in both just in case).
4. If the Viva software is running, exit and start it up again. Visit the "Recharge & Check Balance" section and you should get transfer details similar to this:
If you were not successful, make sure you have removed "Read Only" from the file's property and try opening up your text editor as an administrator (right click run as admin) and making the changes to the file.
Good news to all Viva broadband users, postpaid and prepaid by the way! You will now get double (or half) extra data transfer for the same price for a limited, but generous, period of 6 months . Postpaid users: if you were on the BD30 package (60GB) you will now be able to transfer 120GBs. Prepaid users: if you recharge with BD10 (7GB) you will now get 10.5GBs.
They also have a new broadband package for heavier users, for BD40 you will be able to transfer 100GB (or 200GB within this promo period).
Preparation for LTE (maybe load testing the network), or upping the competition before Greenisis? I don't care as long as they keep on increasing the caps! Let's see the other ISPs' move on this threat… Viva you may just have won me back (for good? let's see ).
Batelco has recently launched one of the firsts amongst DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) providers in Bahrain. Prepaid DSL, under the service name "Broadband for All". This is quite an interesting service, since it brings DSL to anyone that has a Batelco landline (which is going down due to mobile). DSL offers a better connection that wireless based services, so it does have that advantage. The disadvantage however is the speed (1Mbps), data transfer (1GB or 2GB), validity period (not much of a concern given the limit: 1 or 7 days) and cost (BD2 or BD4). Then there is the landline subscription fee (BD1.160). Total minimum cost virtually BD3.160 (assuming no calls are made).
Assuming Skype is used at the highest quality of 40Kbps for audio (assuming SILK codec used), that equates to 24 hours of calls using only 430MB. So it leaves some room to make some video calls as well.
The steps seem simple enough. Connect a DSL modem/router to your landline (of course they recommend their device , the Batelco B-Box). Fire up your browser and I assume it will auto-redirect whatever page you load to their portal for you to top up, much like WiFi in cafes.
Vouchers are available from Batelco, agents and their QuickServe kiosk machines. I think I just may give them a try and relive the DSL days (assuming my lines can handle it !).
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (aka TRA) of Bahrain has today released market indicators covering the period between the last quarter of 2010 to 2011. It is quite an interesting read, especially since it covers an important period of time in Bahrain. Some of the information that may be found in this report are: market trends, telecoms revenue, telecoms employment and overview of different services amongst others. It may be downloaded from the TRA's website here.
Here are some of the stuff I found interesting:
The mobile market provides 44% of market revenue. Followed by international calls (23%), Internet services are before last at only 13%.
The telecoms market represented 4.4% of GDP in 2010.
There are 2,600 direct jobs in the telecoms market (2010). I thought it was much more! I'm guessing outsourcing does not count since it might be a market of "services"?
By the end of 2011 there were 1.7 million mobile subscribers. That's 133% of penetration.
Due to Viva's calls offer, minutes increased by 86% in 2010.
Blackberry represents only 6% of the market. 99% of my friends and family are in these 6%….!
Broadband penetration in 2011 was 23%.
Mobile broadband consists of 44% of the broadband market.
A whopping 95% of households have broadband! The estimates of other countries for 2012 is: South Korea (97%), Netherlands (82%) and the US (77%).
22,000 (22 thousand) numbers have been ported between providers since MNP (Mobile Number Portability) was launched in July 2011.
Much more can be found in the report. Get it here.
Edit: As of August 2012 it seems like Viva are once again throttling the already throttled speed once you go over your limit. You will have a few gigs at 512Kbps before getting dropped down to 128Kbps.
Edit: As of January 2012 it seems like Viva is not throttling the throttled speed mentioned towards the end of the review (the 512Kbps throttle speed going down to 128Kbps after going over a certain amount).
Here comes review 2 of the Internet services I have tried. After having some problems with Menatelecom's myKey service and requiring one of their technicians to have a look at the device for something that is probably fixable over the phone, I decided to give Viva's service a try. I am not unfamiliar with Viva's Internet service, since I have reviewed their prepaid broadband service before. This time I was going to try their "unlimited" broadband service that goes upto 42Mbps.
Viva is probably the ISP I have seen take the "upto" claim for real. This was further enforced when I was at their stand signing up for the service, the manager jokingly said "it isn't 42Mbps it is up to 42Mbps!". I had an idea of what to expect taking into account what others have mentioned about the service. The service they provide is over their mobile network which is the newest one in Bahrain and probably the one with most coverage (thanks to 400 base stations). The Internet service provided by Viva is basically the same regardless of what package you decide to take, the only different is how much you can download before getting capped. The device is what gives you the speeds they advertise. I decided to go all out and spoil myself with their 42Mbps device which is a Huawei e372. The price is BD40 if you take it with a 1 year contract (early termination fee between BD30 and BD50 depending which month of service you terminate), or BD100 with no contract. Alternatively you may get one of the other devices they have. Compared to the prepaid's Huawei e172 it is quite big and somehow feels like it has a better build quality (oh and it is shiny!). The image below might give you an idea (e372 on top, e172 bottom):
Like most of these Internet dongles, all the software you need is inside the device, you just plug it in and it appears as a USB flash drive. Another advantage is that it works well on popular Linux distributions. On Ubuntu, it worked out of the box using Gnome's network manager, on Debian however, I needed some help from the famous Sakis3G script. You do lose some features between Windows and Linux: access to advanced diagnostics, sending and receiving SMS (Viva send bill reminders through it) and a decent (slightly innacurate) connection statistics tool. There are probably tools out there for Linux that take care of these extras but I didn't bother looking. The main interface (below) and statistics area (under the main interface) of the connection manager looks like this:
As you can see above, the lower left corner of the main interface lets you know if you are synched (not connected), to a 2G (aka EDGE) or 3G (WCDMA, HSPA, HSPA+, DC-HSPA+). Once you get connected you may get the highest network possible which is DC-HSPA+:
I was actually surprised to know that Viva's DC-HSPA+ network (aka 42Mbps network) was still being rolled out since I had been getting the DC-HSPA+ network no matter where I tried! Good news is that they have completed upgrading their whole network to support the new technology recently. But don't expect to see that 42Mbps speed since it depends on may factors: signal, weather, how many users connected, overall network capacity and of course what you are wearing . For the record, the highest speed I ever got using the 42Mbps network was around 22Mbps (what their network originally supported), on a Friday morning (the equivalent of Sunday here) and in the Diplomatic Area (busy business center on weekdays, ghost town during weekends). The average speed I got was around 14Mbps, depending on location and time, peak time would fluctuate anywhere between 5Mbps and 14Mbps. Upload speeds are also pretty good, I would hit a few Mbps easily.
Update: Here is a recent speed test in the same conditions mentioned above (just slightly less than 22Mbps).
So what is bad about the service? Apart from the fact that it is an "up to" service the speed you get is quite good. However, the "unlimited" package is capped at 60GB of data transfer. Once you hit it you get capped at 512Kbps, still not that bad right? Go a few GBs on that capped 512Kbps connection and you will get knocked down to 128Kbps!!!
For a person that relies on the Internet for just about everything, accessing content on a 128Kbps connection is like hell on Earth! This is the relevant section on Fair Usage Policy (FUP) on their website at the time of writing, as you can see it mentions nothing about the speed you would expect:
I remember a while ago it used to show that the speed will be throttled to 512Kbps. Using one of those site caching websites I dug up what that "Terms and Conditions" section used to look like:
The star on the second point of their previous terms and conditions lead to a tiny fine print at the bottom of the same page with the following:
/StartHypocrisy Those bloody file sharers downloading large files!!! /EndHypocrisy
I decided to give customer support a call, which in my opinion are the best compared to those I tried recently, thinking 128Kbps means something was wrong. I was told that anything between 128Kbps and 512Kbps is normal, since the throttle is "up to" 512Kbps. I was reassured that a few Kbps would mean that something is wrong… It sucks being capped at 128Kbps before the middle of the month…
Verdict: Viva's broadband service is pretty good and has much better coverage than, for example, Menatelecom (178 base stations only). However, given that they do not mention that you may get capped at 128Kbps since it is "up to" 512Kbps, I would knock off more than a star for that alone. After the first month of usage I am seriously thinking of paying that termination fee or waiting for another month to pay a (slightly) lower ETF. The last sentence will pave the way to the third Internet service I have just signed up for, from a familiar provider …! One which I hope will not fail me.
! All you need to do is modify a single file and you can start getting the software to show you your balance like so:
. 
!).
…! One which I hope will not fail me.
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