Why bother with a contract on XT? Prepaid is almost as good. if not better!

Forums › Spark New Zealand › Why bother with a contract on XT? Prepaid is almost as good. if not better!

steveonz

151 posts

Master Geek
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# 34705 28-May-2009 21:43

Why does Prepay always seem to be almost or just as good as the lower plans? For example I have taken a look at the three minimum plans on XT and compared them with the three prepaid plans. (I may be a tad out on my rounding, but this is a good example!)

Plan	Inc minutes	Inc min cost	Discount	overcharge
Combo	20	0.75/min	0	0.75
Onerate 50	50	0.59/min	0?	0.58
One rate 100	100	0.49/min	0	0.49

Prepay $20	0	66.75/min	0.22/min
Prepay $40	0	62.30/min	0.27/min
Prepay $60	0	59.63/min	0.29/min

As you can see above there is little point to be locked into a contract and have those minutes if you don’t use them all up. Even if you do use them all up and go over every month, your bearly saving anything unless you talk heaps on these plans. However in that case you shouldn’t even consider these plans in the first place.

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370 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 218979 28-May-2009 21:48

I think you may have got your prepay discounts wrong. The topup bonus does not equate to discount directly.

For instance, a $60 topup gives you $20 bonus, totalling $80. So the discount is really just 25%. Think of it as buying a $80 product, for only $60, i.e. $20/$80*100% = 25% discount. I think Telecom deliberately publish it this way to make it seem more, but 25% is nonethelesss still a substantial discount.

steveonz

151 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

# 218980 28-May-2009 21:53

isn't $20 30% of $60? therefore that's making the 89c 30% cheaper?
that also means that if you topup $60 you now get $10 text but with an extra 100 texts.

Or maybe I should go back to school...

profrink

234 posts

Master Geek

# 219003 28-May-2009 22:48

I will still be switching from CDMA prepaid to XT prepaid as I am pretty happy with being able to purchase a decent phone for once with a qwerty keyboard, roam easily (dependant on pricing), top up $20 and get $5 giving me $25 minus $12 for 600 texts to any network leaving me $13 for calls or a bit of data if I like. I don't call a huge amount but "minute bundles" would have been nice too.

exportgoldman

1200 posts

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# 219056 28-May-2009 23:43

steveonz: Why does Prepay always seem to be almost or just as good as the lower plans? For example I have taken a look at the three minimum plans on XT and compared them with the three prepaid plans.

Why shouldn't it be as good on price? you arn't a credit risk on pre pay and there is no 'contract' on post pay unlike Vodafone which demand a committment of 12 months on post pay, with Telecom it's simply if they get the money before or after service is consumed.

2degrees won't even have post pay. I think this will suprise a lot of people.

Tyler - Parnell Geek - iPhone 3G - Lenovo X301 - Kaseya - Great Western Steak House, these are some of my favourite things.

Greekiwi

48 posts

Geek

# 219057 28-May-2009 23:45

steveonz: isn't $20 30% of $60? therefore that's making the 89c 30% cheaper?
that also means that if you topup $60 you now get $10 text but with an extra 100 texts.

Or maybe I should go back to school...

Um... 30% of $60 is $18.

30% = 3/10 (or 30/100 which isn't quite 1/3)
33% = 1/3 (or 33/100)

Sorry to do that to ya but didn't want you to get that wrong in a more important place (i.e. at work).

bazzer

3304 posts

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# 219176 29-May-2009 10:04

Also, just because $20 is 33% of $60, doesn't mean you get 33% off the 89c price.

It's actually 1-(1/(1+0.33)) = 25% off (i.e. each minute you save 89c x 25% = 22.25c, costs you 66.75c).

Think about it this way, you buy $60 credit but get $80 worth. That $80 will buy you 80/0.89 minutes = 89.89 minutes. However, those 89.89 minutes only cost you $60, so that's 60/89.89 = 66.75c/minute.

You run your own business, right?! It's like GST. To add on the GST to a GST exclusive price you add 12.5%, but you can't take the GST inclusive price and subtract 12.5%. You have to subtract 1-(1/(1+0.125)) = 11.11%.

scottjpalmer

Minimalist
5585 posts

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# 219187 29-May-2009 10:24

In summary, no maths involved, I want a data only SIM with a 1 or 2GB data plan on it. Doing it on prepay means every 3rd or 4th month my data bundle for the month will be free, or each month my data bundle will be significantly "cheaper" (I'll be topping up $60 per month)

Guess what I am off to get now . . . :-)

Behodar

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# 219190 29-May-2009 10:33

I think I'll go on a plan at first for the "free" SIM and so that I can roam in the US, then swap to prepaid when I get back. You can sign up to a plan with an open term so there don't seem to be any penalties for just being on a plan for a couple of months.

MattD

656 posts

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# 219230 29-May-2009 11:41

scottjpalmer: In summary, no maths involved, I want a data only SIM with a 1 or 2GB data plan on it. Doing it on prepay

When I called Telecom I was told that data for prepay was only $1 for 10MB casual option (like VF) and larger data was only available on plans with postpay monthly billing.

I would be interested in ability to buy a 2GB block of data on a prepaid basis, not having a postpaid plan. (most of Aus carriers offer this which I use when over there - eg $20-$30 for 2GB and expires after 1month)

Does XT offer this, as the CSR I spoke with seems to think not (even after checking with supervisor) and not sure if contradicts what has been stated by others

Scott, let us know how you get on at the store.

thinkpink

1 post

Wannabe Geek

# 219235 29-May-2009 11:48

The website terms and conditions says it's available:

All of the XT Network mobile data plans are available on Prepaid, except for the Blackberry plans. This includes the Casual plan, data extras, and mobile broadband plans. The Casual plan and data extras have been designed for data usage on a mobile phone device, and the mobile broadband plans have been designed for data usage on a laptop.

http://www.telecom.co.nz/help/content/0,8751,206249-204568,00.html#prepaid_data

MattD

656 posts

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# 219255 29-May-2009 12:35

Thanks thinkpink for the link. I would have thought briefing the CSRs & supervisors would be important for telecom with the new launch.

What I could not quite determine was whether I could use it in the following fashion... eg pay $60 on to the prepaid account, which activates available data for the next month. Then not use it for 3 months, and at some stage pay another $60 and start again. Also whether it is a fixed anniversary EOM day or from time of recharging, and whether I can vary the size of the plan when recharge.

Spoke to someone else who was more helpful, who just found out that their Intranet site has not been updated so he will look to source correct answers and call back

scottjpalmer

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# 219428 29-May-2009 18:28

I've got the SIM, used 10MB for the day ($1) but been busy so havent loaded a data pack.

I'm interested in the answers to your queries about continually recurring month after month, anniversaries, etc too so please post the answers here.

Cheers

profrink

234 posts

Master Geek

# 219493 29-May-2009 20:09

Behodar: I think I'll go on a plan at first for the "free" SIM and so that I can roam in the US, then swap to prepaid when I get back. You can sign up to a plan with an open term so there don't seem to be any penalties for just being on a plan for a couple of months.

I purchased a new handset this morning on prepaid and was not chraged for the SIM connection (E71 for $899 instead of the $928.95 price), however I was an existing CDMA prepaid customer so maybe that has something to do with it.

vimfuego

76 posts

Master Geek

# 219497 29-May-2009 20:15

Interesting comments. I was a CDMA prepaid 'go one bill' customer who bought a new phone today but was charged the extra $20 for a sim card. And still waiting for it to be activated too...

Behodar

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# 219573 29-May-2009 21:49

profrink:
Behodar: I think I'll go on a plan at first for the "free" SIM and so that I can roam in the US, then swap to prepaid when I get back. You can sign up to a plan with an open term so there don't seem to be any penalties for just being on a plan for a couple of months.

I purchased a new handset this morning on prepaid and was not chraged for the SIM connection (E71 for $899 instead of the $928.95 price), however I was an existing CDMA prepaid customer so maybe that has something to do with it.

Interesting. I still require a plan for roaming so it's a bit of a moot point for me personally (side note: How come you can go to AU/UK on prepaid but not US?), but it'll be interesting to see whether anyone else gets the SIM charge waived.

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