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PCCW Fibre to the home Installation Fee

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  1. #1

    PCCW Fibre to the home Installation Fee

    Does anyone have any experience with PCCW’s Gigabit broadband installation?

    I have the misfortune of moving to an apartment that is only served by PCCW. So unlike many places with HKBN or 3HK fixed network I can’t get Gigabit service for HK$200/month + no upfront.  Instead PCCW offer 300Mbs (I don't see a reason to ask for more since I will be using wifi) at HK$306 /month (special offer!) + HK$2,500 upfront ‘installation fee’!!

    This fee isn't listed on the website. I've asked around the office and find that the installation fee seems to get waived in buildings with any form of competition.

    That’s pretty cheeky but they know I don’t have a choice. The only other option is to take 18Mbs @300/mth with a $300 'transfer fee'. Anyone had any success negotiating with them in the same situation?


  2. #2

    Join Date
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    We paid something like $300 or $350 for them to run the fibre through the building, and got enough supermarket vouchers back as a sign-up gift to cover it all...

    Rob2020 likes this.

  3. #3

    Join Date
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    I pay $250ish a month for PCCW fibre (300Mb) and no installation fee and free supermarket vouchers.

    Sounds like they are being very cheeky to me. Damn, I hate PCCW.


  4. #4

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    Interesting you brought this up.

    We tried to upgrade to the 300mbps service (free install + coupons as mrdollars mentioned) a while back but the installer could not pull the cable.

    We're rewiring our apartment and tried to arrange for them to connect the service and they came back with a $2500 charge, which I'm not keen on paying.

    Apparently it has changed and is non-negotiable. Having said that I did get a call from someone saying they'd try and to their best to accomodate after I told them that I've been a broadband customer of theirs well over 15 years.

    HKBN has a minimal installation charge and I'm talking to my account manager to see what their residential service is like ( lower quality of service than corp ).


  5. #5

    Join Date
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    Yes - there has apparently been a major recent change with Netvigator tariffs in that the relocation and installation charges which were previously basically always waived are now pretty much non-negotiable.

    https://cs.netvigator.com/news/bb_ne...5a_iframe.html
    https://cs.netvigator.com/news/bb_ne...25_iframe.html

    Waiving of these charges used to be an automatic perq of being a NetvigatorOne member, but that's disappeared too.


  6. #6

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    Sai Kung / Clearwater Bay
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    anyone have any idea when PCCW will roll out faster services to sai kung villages? or are we to just be grateful we have broadband at all?

    I'd be happy to pay an installation fee for that!


  8. #8

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    I've had the same problem w/ PCCW. Partly my fault, I'd gotten an invite to upgrade to fiber earlier w/o the installation fee but tossed the letter away until now....fuming about the $2500 installation fee. I think it's fair we have to pay for installation but $2500 is highway robbery; that's practically a year's access fee. Called Netvigator twice but no joss; told Mid Levels is a low density, "high difficulty" location that incurs a higher installation charge than larger estates like Tai Koo etc. Pointed them back to their own signup page that shows an installation charge of $340 but no luck either. Even the usual threats and demands for cancellation did not get an inch of give, which is very surprising....as many have noted in other threads, demands for cancellation usually get you waivers.

    Our building does have HKBN so PCCW doesn't have a monopoly.

    FWIW I'm fine with the 30Mbit service we're getting. Most of our web usage is international so I'm a bit skeptical of jumping in bed with HKBN immediately (have heard some horror stories about their non-HK throughput, esp w/ torrents).

    Does anyone here from the Mid Levels have any experience w/ HKBN Fiber that they can share? Good and bad?


  9. #9

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    HKBN installed the service in our apt 2 days ago. Was a lot easier for them to install compared to PCCW a few months ago, and this was through the same conduit. I guess they used extra grease on the cable pull.

    Paid $600 for the install which I think is fair, considering a network point gets installed for $500-700 by a wiring contractor. $2500 is not a fair price in my opinion... but then its their business and not mine.

    The service does not get turned on till mid November, so cannot provide any reviews.

    The installer did do a speed test which showed a 890mbps connection to their server.

    Would be interesting to see how this whole thing turns out for PCCW in a year or so.


  10. #10

    PCCW charging installation fee of $2,500!

    Quote Originally Posted by awinhongkong:
    I have the misfortune of moving to an apartment that is only served by PCCW. So unlike many places with HKBN or 3HK fixed network I can’t get Gigabit service for HK$200/month + no upfront. Instead PCCW offer 300Mbs (I don't see a reason to ask for more since I will be using wifi) at HK$306 /month (special offer!) + HK$2,500 upfront ‘installation fee’!!
    Hi - I am in a similar situation as you. I just moved to Mid-Levels and PCCW is trying to rip me off $2500 for their one-time installation fee for fiber optic. They say that I cannot get the standard 100 mbps VDSL connection (installing which would cost $350) because my neighborhood does not have enough space for the cables. Of course, they know that I have no way of verifying it, and they obviously want to sell me a more expensive product. Seems to me that they just want connect my building to the fiber optic network so that they can offer upgrades to other residents too.. but at my cost!


    Did you have any luck negotiating down the installation fee with PCCW? I have tried playing hard ball with them, but to no avail.

    Edit - My other option is to take iCable 130 mbps package (24 months). But I have only heard horror stories about iCable, so am not sure about this option either.
    Last edited by legaleagle; 02-11-2012 at 02:38 PM.

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