Why don't mobile companies concentrate solely on mobile data?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Why don't mobile companies concentrate solely on mobile data?

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1916 posts

Uber Geek

#626467 16-May-2012 20:24

All I can say is that this person has no commercial sense and is severely unaware of how NZ mobile networks operate.

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loganjames

272 posts

Ultimate Geek

#626469 16-May-2012 20:25

I believe that 'Google Voice' in the US is moving that way.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.googlevoice&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5nb29nbGUuYW5kcm9pZC5hcHBzLmdvb2dsZXZvaWNlIl0.

There are stories of people that are ditching traditional plans and going to straight data and porting the number to GV.

Dunno how it'll work. I know I've never made a good quality call on Viber.

Wade

2225 posts

Uber Geek

#626470 16-May-2012 20:26

Well for my meagre $62/mth vodafone give me 3gb of data and throw in more minutes and texts than I can comfortably consume, I'm not sure I could consume more data or expect it much cheaper

qwerty7

434 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#626471 16-May-2012 20:27

Surely it is the way of the future though, with upgraded data networks etc why would we need text or call plans in 10 years time?

sbiddle:
Calling a physical phone in England incurs termination charges that have to be paid for by somebody. Calling somebody on Skype has no such charges, so comparing the two isn't fair.

^ This is the reason I find the potential of mobile data amazing. You can compare them, they are both means of communicating with someone with exactly the same result. (ok at the moment calling from your cellphone isn't that reliable but you get the point.)

I guess mobile companies are already looking at providing solely mobile data in the long term.

blakamin

4431 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#626472 16-May-2012 20:28

Wade: Well for my meagre $62/mth vodafone give me 3gb of data and throw in more minutes and texts than I can comfortably consume, I'm not sure I could consume more data or expect it much cheaper

Old plan?
I loved my old vodafone plan... then I moved to Oz...
$50 gets me 2gb data, $950 worth of calls and txt, and free calls to any national number (including mobiles) after 6pm!

SteveON

1916 posts

Uber Geek

#626474 16-May-2012 20:32

blakamin:
Wade: Well for my meagre $62/mth vodafone give me 3gb of data and throw in more minutes and texts than I can comfortably consume, I'm not sure I could consume more data or expect it much cheaper

Old plan?
I loved my old vodafone plan... then I moved to Oz...
$50 gets me 2gb data, $950 worth of calls and txt, and free calls to any national number (including mobiles) after 6pm!

$950 worth of calls? Pitty each call costs $0.49 connection charge and $0.89 per minute... Still is better than NZ but the Cap plans are only a confusion. Go and get Amysim; $49 for unlimited calling & SMS.

qwerty7

434 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#626475 16-May-2012 20:33

SteveON: All I can say is that this person has no commercial sense and is severely unaware of how NZ mobile networks operate.

So do you think we will still have text and call plans in..
10 years ?
15 years ?
20 years ?

The technology is already there.

I think this thread got of to a bad start for two reasons:
1) my use of the term basically free
2) The title suggest I am talking about now, as in tomorrow

A better title would of been 'In the future will mobile companies provide solely mobile data?'

And yes your right, I don't know how mobile networks operate. That is why I am asking.

blakamin

4431 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#626476 16-May-2012 20:34

qwerty7:
^ This is the reason I find the potential of mobile data amazing. You can compare them, they are both means of communicating with someone with exactly the same result. (ok at the moment calling from your cellphone isn't that reliable but you get the point.)

I guess mobile companies are already looking at providing solely mobile data in the long term.

I hope you're right, because call quality on Viber (when it works) is far superior to any phone conversation I've had... I think it'll be a few more years before anyone in NZ is ready tho... There's still some places in NZ where you can only get 2g... Imagine tring to make a data call with That!!

loganjames

272 posts

Ultimate Geek

#626478 16-May-2012 20:34

SteveON:
blakamin:
Wade: Well for my meagre $62/mth vodafone give me 3gb of data and throw in more minutes and texts than I can comfortably consume, I'm not sure I could consume more data or expect it much cheaper

Old plan?
I loved my old vodafone plan... then I moved to Oz...
$50 gets me 2gb data, $950 worth of calls and txt, and free calls to any national number (including mobiles) after 6pm!

$950 worth of calls? Pitty each call costs $0.49 connection charge and $0.89 per minute... Still is better than NZ but the Cap plans are only a confusion. Go and get Amysim; $49 for unlimited calling & SMS.

Its unfortunate that this always leads to comparing NZ networks with one of the most competitive markets in the world.

loganjames

272 posts

Ultimate Geek

#626482 16-May-2012 20:38

blakamin: I hope you're right, because call quality on Viber (when it works) is far superior to any phone conversation I've had... I think it'll be a few more years before anyone in NZ is ready tho... There's still some places in NZ where you can only get 2g... Imagine tring to make a data call with That!!

Or people who don't have/want smart Phones, or like my mum won't get off the CDMA Network.

blakamin

4431 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#626483 16-May-2012 20:38

SteveON:
blakamin:
Wade: Well for my meagre $62/mth vodafone give me 3gb of data and throw in more minutes and texts than I can comfortably consume, I'm not sure I could consume more data or expect it much cheaper

Old plan?
I loved my old vodafone plan... then I moved to Oz...
$50 gets me 2gb data, $950 worth of calls and txt, and free calls to any national number (including mobiles) after 6pm!

$950 worth of calls? Pitty each call costs $0.49 connection charge and $0.89 per minute... Still is better than NZ but the Cap plans are only a confusion. Go and get Amysim; $49 for unlimited calling & SMS.

$0.39 connection charge... and I'm still yet to use more than $500 credit including calls to NZ.

Amaysim uses optus... not a good plan for someone that travels in regional areas

SteveON

1916 posts

Uber Geek

#626485 16-May-2012 20:41

qwerty7:
SteveON: All I can say is that this person has no commercial sense and is severely unaware of how NZ mobile networks operate.

So do you think we will still have text and call plans in..
10 years ?
15 years ?
20 years ?

The technology is already there.

I think this thread got of to a bad start for two reasons:
1) my use of the term basically free
2) The title suggest I am talking about now, as in tomorrow

A better title would of been 'In the future will mobile companies provide solely mobile data?'

And yes your right, I don't know how mobile networks operate. That is why I am asking.

On 2degrees you can get 12GB for $99.

It's all about the market, right now there is not enough capacity or people to pay for it. Wait 4 years till 4G is properly set up.

Wade

2225 posts

Uber Geek

#626490 16-May-2012 20:42

Google voice has the potential to become something great especially for android based consumers but as others have eluded to Skype and viber are very hit n miss, I have had some huge success with both but more often fails.

On a side note I use Gmail more regularly than text messaging as it is just as easy on a smartphone and not as limiting

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#626495 16-May-2012 20:50

qwerty7: Surely it is the way of the future though, with upgraded data networks etc why would we need text or call plans in 10 years time?

sbiddle:
Calling a physical phone in England incurs termination charges that have to be paid for by somebody. Calling somebody on Skype has no such charges, so comparing the two isn't fair.

^ This is the reason I find the potential of mobile data amazing. You can compare them, they are both means of communicating with someone with exactly the same result. (ok at the moment calling from your cellphone isn't that reliable but you get the point.)

I guess mobile companies are already looking at providing solely mobile data in the long term.

One is a legacy PSTN voice call, the other is a OTT service. They share absolutely nothing in common (apart from the mere fact OTT services are starting to hurt carrier revenue).

Talkiet

4787 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#626528 16-May-2012 21:41

qwerty7: God i hate it in a forum when someone picks up on one word and then everyone jumps on the bandwagon..

I said BASICALLY FREE internet is cheap, the cost of a 10 minute skype call to England using your home broadband (when worked out in terms of data used vs monthly plan cost and data cap) is substantially less the calling England for 10 minutes on your cellphone, is it not?

I am really interested to understand if you really mean you think just by dropping text and SMS plans/capability, that the cost to a provider would drop by a significant amount?

You might lose some billing complexity, and some interconnect agreements - you might even lose some gateways.

But you still need to build towers, support systems, provision more backhaul than before, implement GOOD QOS (cos now people are putting emergency calls etc over packet data etc etc etc etc etc.

Basically (and bear in mind I don't even work in the mobile side of the business), there would be minimal short term cost reduction, and even in the long term I'd struggle to even conceptualise a drop of more than 5-10% costs. All this while GUTTING revenue, so there will never be another upgrade for the entire life of the Telco (which will be measured in months as they go out of business competing against others who still allow you to make phone calls).

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

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