Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › So what happens on 1 April?

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#64768 22-Mar-2007 21:39

As I said Telecom has less "on net" deals and thier main text deal is unaffected. They all also have plans like "freedom" that rely on nominated numbers so they will be unaffected.

if you are concerned about this then you are better of with Telecom

Any views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of my employer Telecom NZ

sbiddle

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#64778 22-Mar-2007 21:52

Jughead: As I said Telecom has less "on net" deals and thier main text deal is unaffected. They all also have plans like "freedom" that rely on nominated numbers so they will be unaffected.

if you are concerned about this then you are better of with Telecom

Many people would consider Mega TXT to be Telecom's main text deal now and that will be affected. Go Prepaid will also be affected. These two features are potentially used by maybe 25% of all Telecom customers. That's hardly something to ignore.

nzbnw

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#64780 22-Mar-2007 21:55

sbiddle:
Jughead: I would be very surprised if voda hounred text messages and voice calls to 021/029 numbers on the telecom network. The interconnection charges would kill them.

They have no choice when they have a customer has a contract with them saying they will. Current You Choose material says both "021/029" and "Vodafone Network" depending on where you read.

I'm not sure if you have all noticed but this will have legal implications, hence this is why most of Telecoms advertising no longer refers to '027' being Telecom numbers. Any adverting that does state 027 (under the current promos) will end on the31st of March anyways.

Assuming Vodafone get their act together and update their website, I'm sure they will have a clause in their service agreement with their customers that they are able to change the terms and conditions of this agreement at any time and without notifying the end user or something to that affect.

Still some unhappy customers coming up. But please spear a though for Telecom in the weeks after the 31st of March when all these people come ring up 123/126 or come into a dealer and say "my 025 phones not working, do you know why??".

nzbnw

nzbnw

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#64782 22-Mar-2007 22:04

Jughead: If you are concerned about this then you are better of with Telecom

Well that goes without saying \

sbiddle: Many people would consider Mega TXT to be Telecom's main text deal now and that will be affected. Go Prepaid will also be affected. These two features are potentially used by maybe 25% of all Telecom customers. That's hardly something to ignore.

Personally from what I see with most customers, Mega TXT / Boost Monsta TXT is not as common as you may think, and while there will be problems, I don’t see this as a major issue.

You are how ever correct in that fact that customers who are on Go OneBill and Go Prepaid Mates Rates will be affected by this, and this makes a up a large proportion of Telecoms Prepaid and Go-OneBill customer base. Luckily for Telecom these two plans are among a very few which differentiate calling costs between networks, in-fact I can’t think of any more plans that will be affected??

sbiddle

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#64797 23-Mar-2007 08:15

nzbnw: Personally from what I see with most customers, Mega TXT / Boost Monsta TXT is not as common as you may think, and while there will be problems, I don’t see this as a major issue.
You are how ever correct in that fact that customers who are on Go OneBill and Go Prepaid Mates Rates will be affected by this, and this makes a up a large proportion of Telecoms Prepaid and Go-OneBill customer base. Luckily for Telecom these two plans are among a very few which differentiate calling costs between networks, in-fact I can’t think of any more plans that will be affected??

Telecom obviously have fewer issues than Vodafone. It would be good to see official comments from both companies as to how they will be deadling with the issus involved, obviously with a week to go these sorts of things have obviously been decided upon.

I heard it from a good source that Vodafone were going to abandon all differention for existing SMS plans from the 1st April because there systems are simply incapable of billing for on/off network SMS's with portability, again it would be good to hear this officially if it is true.

alasta

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#64801 23-Mar-2007 08:28

sbiddle: It would be good to see official comments from both companies as to how they will be deadling with the issus involved, obviously with a week to go these sorts of things have obviously been decided upon.

I heard it from a good sourcethat Vodafone were going to abandon all differention for existing SMS plans from the 1st April because there systems are simply incapable of billing for on/off network SMS's with portability, again it would be good to hear this officially if it is true.

This would have huge implications, as it would affect Best Mate, Motormouth, and several You Choose add-ons. If Vodafone's billing system does suffer from the limitations that you describe, then Vodafone would probably have to completely overhaul their entire range of consumer plans.

Steve, I seem to recall you commenting recently that Vodafone is likely to announce calling plan changes on the 1st of April and I can also recall someone else commenting that On Account customers will not be hooked into the new billing system in time for the launch of number portability. Things could get very interesting here.

SNicolle

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#64802 23-Mar-2007 08:45

A search on Vodafone.co.nz for portability gives:

Number portability

In 2007, New Zealand will switch to Number Portability. That means you'll be able to switch to Vodafone use our mobiles, services and global access, but keep your current mobile number, including its 027 or 029 prefix.

We’ll have a TXT service that will allow you to check if the person you’re calling or TXTing is also a Vodafone customer, or not.

We’ll keep you posted on this exciting development.

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/services/transfers/number_portability.jsp

Telecom
http://www.telecom.co.nz/content/0,8748,205250-200447,00.html?text=mhp

Number Portability

On 1 April 2007, Mobile and Local Number Portability will launch in New Zealand.

Move to Telecom and keep your mobile number

This means on 1 April 2007 you can make the move to Telecom AND you get to keep your current 021 or 029 mobile number.

We know keeping your mobile number is important - whether you've got a great number everyone knows, or if it's your business line and livelihood. So from 1 April 2007, you can keep your current 021 or 029 mobile number (including the 021/029), and by moving to Telecom you'll be able to discover all the speed and fun of T3G, our great range of mobile phones, and much more.

And it doesn't matter if you're on prepay or on account. You'll be able to choose any number portability capable Telecom mobile, on the plan you want, and we'll have you up and running with the same 021 or 029 number.

Please note, the Telecom 025 TDMA network is closing down on 31 March 2007 so 025 numbers cannot be transferred to other mobile phone companies.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

sbiddle

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#64804 23-Mar-2007 09:15

alasta:
Steve, I seem to recall you commenting recently that Vodafone is likely to announce calling plan changes on the 1st of April and I can also recall someone else commenting that On Account customers will not be hooked into the new billing system in time for the launch of number portability. Things could get very interesting here.

It appears calling plan changes won't occur until the new billing system rolls out - whenever that could be. "Early 2007" is obviously not 1st Quarter if you're Vodafone.

VFNZPaulBrislen

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#64814 23-Mar-2007 10:09

Hi guys,

We'll have a free txt-based service that will allow our customers to find out if the person they're contacting is on-net or off-net.

Hope that helps,

Cheers

Paul

Paul Brislen
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Vodafone

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mailmonster

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#64815 23-Mar-2007 10:14

PaulBrislen:
Hi guys,
We'll have a free txt-based service that will allow our customers to find out if the person they're contacting is on-net or off-net.

Hope that helps,

Cheers

Paul

thanks Paul, but the website is still saying a text-based service...... it does not mention if it is free.

We’ll have a TXT service that will allow you to check if the person you’re calling or TXTing is also a Vodafone customer, or not.

VFNZPaulBrislen

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#64816 23-Mar-2007 10:25

Excuse me while I go beat the web team to death with a dongle...

Cheers

Paul

mutter mutter

Paul Brislen
Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

sbiddle

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#64826 23-Mar-2007 11:24

PaulBrislen:
Hi guys,
We'll have a free txt-based service that will allow our customers to find out if the person they're contacting is on-net or off-net.

Hope that helps,

Cheers

Paul

So what will be happening with existing POS material both in stores and the vodafone website that still refers to TXT1000 as being to 021/029 numbers? Will Vodafone be charging for SMS's send to ported 021/029 numbers from the 1st April? If so what steps will Vodafone be taking to advise customers of these changed T&C's? Vodafone need to give 14 days notice of any significant changes that would disadvantage an end user and haven't done anything yet.

bradstewart

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#64827 23-Mar-2007 11:31

PaulBrislen: We'll have a free txt-based service that will allow our customers to find out if the person they're contacting is on-net or off-net.

My question is... Why should somebody have to go to that much trouble just to check they aren't texting an off net number? Do we suddenly have to check everytime whether a number is off net before we text that person?

Its easy to notify people of an off net call, a simple recorded message would suffice, but texting...

Vodafone are bent over with their pants down on this one, I bet what's coming is going to hurt...

alasta

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#64830 23-Mar-2007 12:15

bradstewart: My question is... Why should somebody have to go to that much trouble just to check they aren't texting an off net number? Do we suddenly have to check everytime whether a number is off net before we text that person?

Its easy to notify people of an off net call, a simple recorded message would suffice, but texting...

Vodafone are bent over with their pants down on this one, I bet what's coming is going to hurt...

I agree. Whilst number portability is a hot topic here on Geekzone, it's likely that the general public is largely unaware of it. At best, it will take months for people to catch on to the fact that a phone number prefix no longer guarantees that the owner of the phone number is with a particular provider, and if this ignorance prevails then people simply won't bother to use Vodafone's free provider identification service.

Vodafone's call centre ought to brace themselves for an onslaught of calls from people demanding to know why their calls to other 021 numbers are being charged as off-network calls.

lokinz

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#64837 23-Mar-2007 13:44

bradstewart: ...Vodafone are bent over with their pants down on this one, I bet what's coming is going to hurt...

Oh yea, Vodafone will be the only network affected will it? Telecom have all their bases covered do they? Perhaps they will need to re-name the "027 Mega TXT" plan.

I would also like to see a free web-based "number checker"

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