Unused Mobile Data and Minutes Costing Kiwi Businesses

Three quarters of Kiwi businesses have up to 100MB of unused mobile data per connection left at the end of each month, and over half have up to 60 minutes of unused mobile voice minutes. This represents a cost which has been paid for as part of their mobile plan, but wasted.

A recent survey conducted by CallPlus shows 51 per cent of businesses are not analysing their mobile phone bills in great detail – if at all.  A staggering 67 per cent of New Zealand businesses have not considered what the portion of unused mobile minutes and data is costing their bottom line.

Kelvin Hussey, General Manager for CallPlus, says all businesses should check their monthly bills to make sure they are not over spending, especially when an alarming 61 per cent report having unused mobile minutes at the end of each month.

“We encourage businesses to be thorough when checking their mobile bills to see how many minutes and how much data is left untouched each month. If you don’t use it then why should you have to pay for it?” says Hussey.

To assist NZ businesses to reduce overheads in this challenging business environment, CallPlus has announced new business mobile plans that are the first of its kind in New Zealand. It will see business customers getting money back for unused mobile minutes and data.

Customers will no longer have to pay for the minutes and data they don’t use. Instead, CallPlus will buy back the unused portion of the plan’s minutes and megabytes at a rate of 10 cents per minute and 10 cents per megabyte[i].

On the new CallPlus BuyBack plan if a business has 100 MB of data and 60 minutes of unused voice minutes left on a connection at the end of the month, this could equate to a credit of $16 on their next month’s bill.

“We are proud to lead the way and put money back in our customers’ pockets, unlike other operators who charge the moment you go a second or byte over what your contract allows, but will happily keep quiet when they owe you,” says Hussey.

Similar approaches to billing have been very successful overseas and Hussey believes the BuyBack plan is a unique way to ensure New Zealanders are not paying for what they don’t use.

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[i] BuyBack minutes rate is $0.10 per minute for unused minutes. BuyBack data rate is $0.10 per MB for unused data.

*The Survey was conducted by Research Now for CallPlus in February 2012. It involved an online interview of 330 New Zealand Businesses, interviewees were over 18 years of age and either responsible for paying the business mobile phone bills  or had involvement in doing so. The interview was for an average of three minutes and the sample was nationally representative.