Is telecom planning a smartphone plan upgrade anytime soon?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Is telecom planning a smartphone plan upgrade anytime soon?

code15

198 posts

Master Geek

#107034 6-Aug-2012 08:53

Hi all,

I'm currently on telecoms smartphone $40 plan which gives me:

- 50 mins calling
- 300 txt
- 500 mb data

I'm starting to go over my allowances in txt and data every month. Had a look at 2degrees and their current smartphone $39 plan provides:

- 220 mins
- 2500 txt
- 1.1 gb data

I'm a heavy data user, so the reason I want to stay with telecom is due to their network superiority (I get great coverage everywhere, fast speeds (beats my home broadband at times, and no 2G fallback).

However if you compare the allowances of both plans, it's just rediculous. Telecom haven't made any changes to their plans since for over a year now, and they dont seem to be making and attempt to keep up with the competition. Should I switch to 2degrees? Or does someone have some insight into the probability of telecom bumping their allowances up in the near future.

Cheers

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175 posts

Master Geek

#668082 6-Aug-2012 09:10

I agree they need to look at their plans

I have my wife on a Blackberry $50 plan that gets
300texts
50 min
500mb (blackberry data)

I then had to add the $10 option for more texts (total of 2500) making her bill $60 a month

I think the Minutes are fine but the issue I have and raised with them when I signed up to the plan is that 500mb of Blackberry data is over the top considering that it is compressed. She barley breaks the 20mb mark a month (I'm a heaver user of Blackberry at work and i hardly use 100mb of my 400mb plan)

i think they need to have a shakeup with the plans and rejig them to say:

2500 Texts
50 Min
100mb (blackberry Data)

I would be happy pay the $50 for this

Just my 0.02 cents worth anyway

just as an aside the Vodafone Smart Plans include Blackberry Data as default but Vodafone is not an option for us as it does not have coverage at our holiday home

plambrechtsen

1948 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#668083 6-Aug-2012 09:12

Have you checked out the Pay Monthly Boosts?

http://www.telecom.co.nz/mobile/mobile/yourmobile/paymonthlyboostsandextras/

Telecom would only talk about new plans once they have been released.

Edit: And if you're a Blackberry user I am pretty sure you can go for an "On the bill" or "Total Home Mobile" and get the Blackberry Data boost plus Text Boost if that works for you. Those plans however don't include any voice mins but may work for people who are heavy data/sms but never use the phone for voice calls.

Worth ringing up the *123 / 0800 800 163 / Online Chat Mobile Helpdesk and seeing what they can do.

garvani

1873 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#668084 6-Aug-2012 09:17

That telecom plan looks really poor in comparison to 2degrees. It is about time they upgrade them but i wouldn't expect to see it happen anytime soon, much like vodafone it takes them quite a while to react to 2degree's deals. Just look at the free S3's, you have to sign upto a $120 telecom/vodafone plan or a $80 2degree's plan, hmm which is the better value.

I still can't believe how good the vodafone smart plan i signed upto a year ago is, i thought it would be outdated now and that i would be regretting this last year of my contract, not so much!

2500 txt's
120mins
3gb data
$62

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#668089 6-Aug-2012 09:31

garvani: That telecom plan looks really poor in comparison to 2degrees. It is about time they upgrade them but i wouldn't expect to see it happen anytime soon, much like vodafone it takes them quite a while to react to 2degree's deals. Just look at the free S3's, you have to sign upto a $120 telecom/vodafone plan or a $80 2degree's plan, hmm which is the better value.

I still can't believe how good the vodafone smart plan i signed upto a year ago is, i thought it would be outdated now and that i would be regretting this last year of my contract, not so much!

2500 txt's
120mins
3gb data
$62

you have it pretty much the wrong way round.

Telecom do the S3 for $0 on an $80 plan.
2Degrees do it fpor $0 on the $89 plan - $9 more per month

(you can argue that 2D $89 plan is better value than Telecom's but the subsidy is definitely better on Telecom)

ferg_nz

175 posts

Master Geek

#668090 6-Aug-2012 09:34

plambrechtsen:
Edit: And if you're a Blackberry user I am pretty sure you can go for an "On the bill" or "Total Home Mobile" and get the Blackberry Data boost plus Text Boost if that works for you. Those plans however don't include any voice mins but may work for people who are heavy data/sms but never use the phone for voice calls.

Worth ringing up the *123 / 0800 800 163 / Online Chat Mobile Helpdesk and seeing what they can do.

We are using on the one bill for her bill but to get blackberry data you have to go on a pay monthly (still charged to home line) starting at $50 a month. than add the boost for texts

I just think and agree with the OP that they need to look at their plans and make them a bit more competitive

garvani

1873 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#668092 6-Aug-2012 09:36

Your right, my bad, my memory failed me there, i looked up those deals a few weeks ago :) However the vodafone pricing stands correct, $120 seems a tad high in comparison. Anyway weve gone off topic, that comment was meant as a side note.

drquack32

129 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#668111 6-Aug-2012 10:02

I have to say that when I pay nearly $90 for the same thing with XT, I have to ask myself if I have rocks in my head although
I am not entirely sure of 2 degrees......

Edit: I forgot to mention that I got a call from Telecom last week offering a loyalty bonus of $32 for my wifes connection to re-sign for 12 months. When I contrast that with the ability to save nearly $600 changing networks.......

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eXDee

4032 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#668123 6-Aug-2012 10:27

Even prepay they are a tad behind

Vodafone just cloned 2degrees $19 combo, on both networks you can get
30 minutes - 300 texts - 300mb of data - $19
And vodafone also has
50 minutes - 2500 texts - 300mb of data - $25

telecom is
20 minutes - 1000 texts - 200mb of data - $20

better if you need more texts but the extra minutes and data mean its much better value on the other two networks.

I'm hoping for someone to come out with a combo plan that has more than 300mb (of national data) for under $30.

plambrechtsen

1948 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#668166 6-Aug-2012 11:29

ferg_nz:
plambrechtsen:
Edit: And if you're a Blackberry user I am pretty sure you can go for an "On the bill" or "Total Home Mobile" and get the Blackberry Data boost plus Text Boost if that works for you. Those plans however don't include any voice mins but may work for people who are heavy data/sms but never use the phone for voice calls.

Worth ringing up the *123 / 0800 800 163 / Online Chat Mobile Helpdesk and seeing what they can do.

We are using on the one bill for her bill but to get blackberry data you have to go on a pay monthly (still charged to home line) starting at $50 a month. than add the boost for texts

I just think and agree with the OP that they need to look at their plans and make them a bit more competitive

Try ringing up the mobile helpdesk and I think you can get moved onto the "Smart OneBill" or "Total Home Mobile" depending on what homeline plan you're on (and for Total Home Mobile if you're happy to only have 40GB data for your home BB) where effectively you have a prepaid mobile that you pay on your bill as you use it. Then you can add-on the Blackberry boosts for just the data or text you use.

I don't specifically work in retail mobile but I have known of other Geekzoners who have done this with success so YMMV.

And onto the argument of competitive XT is the only fully 3G nationwide network and now that CDMA is shutdown just wait for things to happen. So IMHO (I'm of course biased) you get great value from Telecom :)

ferg_nz

175 posts

Master Geek

#668177 6-Aug-2012 11:57

plambrechtsen:
ferg_nz:
plambrechtsen:
Edit: And if you're a Blackberry user I am pretty sure you can go for an "On the bill" or "Total Home Mobile" and get the Blackberry Data boost plus Text Boost if that works for you. Those plans however don't include any voice mins but may work for people who are heavy data/sms but never use the phone for voice calls.

Worth ringing up the *123 / 0800 800 163 / Online Chat Mobile Helpdesk and seeing what they can do.

We are using on the one bill for her bill but to get blackberry data you have to go on a pay monthly (still charged to home line) starting at $50 a month. than add the boost for texts

I just think and agree with the OP that they need to look at their plans and make them a bit more competitive

Try ringing up the mobile helpdesk and I think you can get moved onto the "Smart OneBill" or "Total Home Mobile" depending on what homeline plan you're on (and for Total Home Mobile if you're happy to only have 40GB data for your home BB) where effectively you have a prepaid mobile that you pay on your bill as you use it. Then you can add-on the Blackberry boosts for just the data or text you use.

I don't specifically work in retail mobile but I have known of other Geekzoners who have done this with success so YMMV.

And onto the argument of competitive XT is the only fully 3G nationwide network and now that CDMA is shutdown just wait for things to happen. So IMHO (I'm of course biased) you get great value from Telecom :)

I see where you are coming from and thats cool. yes i agree that telecom have the only Full 3g network. and the reason I am with them is due to the better coverage.

I am on the total home Broadband as we use a lot of data at home so the option of changing that is a no go. I was not aware of the Smart One Bill option but after the quick chat I had online this morning the only way to get Blackberry Data is on the Blackberry Smart Phone Plan Starting at $50 (or so i was told) e.g. cant be added as a boost/Addon

The mix I need is plenty of txts some minutes the 50 at the moment is not bad and less BB Data for a resonable price say $40 - $50 I'm not asking for a huge discount but just a re-organize of the allowances on the plans more in line with what I think the general user is after (IMHO)

ajobbins

5052 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#668200 6-Aug-2012 12:21

I cringe every time I look at the prices for mobile usage in NZ. I've gotten very used to my Australian plan.

$30 a month gets me 1GB of data, unlimited on net calls any time and $550 of 'credit' to spend.

That credit equates to about 400 national minutes, or 200 minutes Aus to NZ, or 2000 texts, or any combination of. The next plan up ($45) would get me unlimited texts too - as well as $750 of 'credit' and 1.5GB of data - but I simply don't use enough of my $30 plan.

That's on a post paid no term contract.

Twitter: ajobbins

joff_nz

446 posts

Ultimate Geek

#668209 6-Aug-2012 12:23

Are you able to use a service like whatsapp / gtalk etc instead of regular texting to keep under the 300?

plambrechtsen

1948 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#668224 6-Aug-2012 12:38

ferg_nz: I was not aware of the Smart One Bill option but after the quick chat I had online this morning the only way to get Blackberry Data is on the Blackberry Smart Phone Plan Starting at $50 (or so i was told) e.g. cant be added as a boost/Addon

I would ring up 0800 800 163 and get them to re-check you can't get the Blackberry Data add-on with a Smart OneBill.

At home we're on Total Home Mobile since I don't use more than 40GB of data per month on my home BB and my wife only uses her phone to text (as Total Home Mobile comes with 300 Texts) and we have the 150MB data add-on for her since she isn't far away from Wifi and that works out very cost effectively for us.

Also people forget that you can be on a Mobile Broadband plans too. You can attach the Mobile Broadband Plans (750mb/2gb/4gb) onto a Smart OneBill plan. So for $30 per month you would get 750MB + 44cents per min for voice + 20cents for sms pay as you go. Again this is from my own research online and may or may not be correct at the time of writing so don't hold me to it :)

If you don't get any joy you can e-mail me at pl at telecom dot co dot nz and I will see if I can point you to a CSR who can help.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#668244 6-Aug-2012 13:03

ajobbins: I cringe every time I look at the prices for mobile usage in NZ. I've gotten very used to my Australian plan.

$30 a month gets me 1GB of data, unlimited on net calls any time and $550 of 'credit' to spend.

That credit equates to about 400 national minutes, or 200 minutes Aus to NZ, or 2000 texts, or any combination of. The next plan up ($45) would get me unlimited texts too - as well as $750 of 'credit' and 1.5GB of data - but I simply don't use enough of my $30 plan.

That's on a post paid no term contract.

You know what I cringe at? How people constantly think they are being ripped off in NZ even if they aren’t.

Let’s say you split your SMS and voice down the middle with that ozzie plan. That means you pay $30 AUD - (A smidge under $40NZD) – for 1GB, 200 mins, 1000 txts.

By contrast for the same price ($39 NZD) 2Degrees (on a no-term postpaid contract) gives you 220 minutes (including the bonus ones you get every month), 2500 txts, and 1.1GB. In other words you get more txts and more data on the NZ plan, and the minutes is only better with the ozzie plan if you do a fair amount of on-net calling.

Not only that but you don’t have to d*ck around working out how much each minute costs on your so-called ‘$550 of value’ which, quite frankly, is an utterly BS way of looking at mobile phone plans.

ferg_nz

175 posts

Master Geek

#668275 6-Aug-2012 13:36

plambrechtsen:
ferg_nz: I was not aware of the Smart One Bill option but after the quick chat I had online this morning the only way to get Blackberry Data is on the Blackberry Smart Phone Plan Starting at $50 (or so i was told) e.g. cant be added as a boost/Addon

I would ring up 0800 800 163 and get them to re-check you can't get the Blackberry Data add-on with a Smart OneBill.

At home we're on Total Home Mobile since I don't use more than 40GB of data per month on my home BB and my wife only uses her phone to text (as Total Home Mobile comes with 300 Texts) and we have the 150MB data add-on for her since she isn't far away from Wifi and that works out very cost effectively for us.

Also people forget that you can be on a Mobile Broadband plans too. You can attach the Mobile Broadband Plans (750mb/2gb/4gb) onto a Smart OneBill plan. So for $30 per month you would get 750MB + 44cents per min for voice + 20cents for sms pay as you go. Again this is from my own research online and may or may not be correct at the time of writing so don't hold me to it :)

If you don't get any joy you can e-mail me at pl at telecom dot co dot nz and I will see if I can point you to a CSR who can help.

Cheers i will give them a call and see but my understanding is that "Data" and "Blackberry Data" are 2 completely different things. The only way i think that you can add a Blackberry Data Plan to say the Smart One Bill is to go for a BES Plan. see below from telecom website but even that is not likely after reading the below

from http://www.telecom.co.nz/mobile/mobile/plansandpricing/paymonthly/

Blackberry 100MB, 400MB and 1GB Data ExtrasIf you're a BlackBerry fan you'll know they're a bit special and, since all BlackBerry devices need data, we've got special BlackBerry-only data Extras. These data options give you access to the BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) and are therefore for BlackBerry customers who use a corporate server (e.g. Exchange). Our BlackBerry data Extras are only available on our new Talk & Text Off Peak and Talk & Text Anytime plans and take your monthly data to 100MB for $30.61, 400MB for $35.72 or 1GB for $71.51. You can Buy Boosts & Extras online, call us on 123 or visit us in-store to find out more.

If you're a non-Corporate BlackBerry customer you'll want a plan that gives you access to the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) – we have BlackBerry Smartphone plans for you.

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