Vodafone NZ locking handsets

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#127624 1-May-2008 15:34

jpollock: Let's play a game... It's called tit-for-tat.

Vodafone - Locked SIMs!
TNZ - Commerce Commision!
CC - Unlock the phones for a fee at the end of the contract.
Vodafone - Grump - NZ$50!
OpenCom- Free unlock! We'll Haxor your phone for you!
Vodafone - Hey! Hight Court!
HC - ref: Copyright Act, Not a Protected TPM.
Vodafone - New phone models!
OpenCom- Multi-sim handset!
TNZ - Free phone with contract!
Vodafone - LTE! Radio Change!
TNZ - Me Too!, hey kids, free on-net SMS with contract!

LOL nice play out... wish it can happen like that :-D Question... who's running OpenCom?

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BrentR

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#127638 1-May-2008 16:26

Wow, its such an issue for a few people it would seem.

Telecom SIM lock their handsets also.

From what I understand it ONLY applies to handsets bought as of today, so NO your Nokia N95 you bought yesterday won't magically go and SIM lock itself.

Vodafone will be wanting to protect their roaming dollars and with Telecom now being able to supply SIM cards it would make sense to lock people who buy handsets from them to VFNZ SIM cards hence keeping that revenue stream from going to their competitors.

They are a business, business's need to make money.

If you don't like the business decisions they are making then hey, you've got plenty of other choices out there... right??? ;)

freitasm

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#127641 1-May-2008 16:32

Jeffthechef: If you don't like the business decisions they are making then hey, you've got plenty of other choices out there... right??? ;)

Yes, there is at least one other choice now and one coming sometime soon. That's how I saw it when I decided to port my number from Vodafone to Telecom.

No, the irony in your comment did not escape me, but I actually believe there's choice now. If you don't like Vodafone, go to Telecom. Why wouldn't it be a valid option in anyone's opinion?

Please don't answer the last question. It was a reply to the previous question. Back on the Vodafone SIM lock topic now.

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VFNZPaulBrislen

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#127642 1-May-2008 16:33

Hi all,

Vodafone’s mobiles are sold exclusively for use on Vodafone New Zealand’s network.

From 1 May we are locking new handsets to our network. All new handsets sold will include information about handset locking and how to unlock handsets.

Locked handsets can be unlocked for a fee of $50.

This is being done to protect the customers’ experience of the Vodafone brand. Vodafone brands its mobiles with both the Vodafone and Vodafone Live! look and feel. If a customers takes a Vodafone mobile to another network, the customer won’t be able to access the Vodafone experience and services.

Cheers

Paul

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Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

ninjabear

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#127644 1-May-2008 16:42

lol... but to be honest other mobile services from other countries are better than vodafone NZ.

more games.more variety of handset

Why would we want to experience the vlive brand?it's a big ugly red logo with a really ugly background at the back.

Maybe cos telecom are releasing gsm handset and its a way to protect vodafone mobiles to be put on telecom's network.If that is so then tell us the truth.

The explanation doesn't make sense

Sorry but thats the truth

brentbart

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#127654 1-May-2008 17:23

ninjabear: lol... but to be honest other mobile services from other countries are better than vodafone NZ.

more games.more variety of handset

Not sure of the relevance of that comment, you might as well start talking about the weather other countries have. Will NZ ever have the competition of say the USA ... sure, when we have an additional 500 million people. I understand that every other Vodafone network worldwide locks the devices to their network so, using your logic, isn't the mobile service offered now standard so a good thing.

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#127664 1-May-2008 17:56

This is being done to protect the customers’ experience of the Vodafone brand.

That is a typical spin doctor statement. I guess the spin doctors conjuring up that quote, is why they took so long to make a post, although good on them for confirming it. Personally I hope the commerce commission prevent this occurring, because it prevents real competition when people have to pay to move providers.
I wonder if it is just a coincidence, that there is apparently another major provider due to join the market very soon, and telecom is releasing it's own GSM network soon. This move will stop people moving to those providers if they have recently bought a new phone, without paying an unlocking fee to vf, or unless they buy a parallel imported phone.

I wonder if it is a coinencidence, that there is apparently another major provider due to join the market, and telecom is releasing it's own GSM network soon. This move will stop people moving to those providers, without paying an unlocking fee, or unless they buy a paralell imported phone.

freitasm

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#127665 1-May-2008 18:02

robbypreb:
This is being done to protect the customers’ experience of the Vodafone brand.

That is a typical spin doctor statement. I guess the spin doctors conjuring up that quote, is why they took so long to make a post, although good on them for confirming it. Personally I hope the commerce commission prevent this occurring, because it stems real competition when people have to pay to move providers.

Risking being called an anti-Vodafone (TM) person, I can imagine this scene:

One evening, inside the most secret and secure room at v.nue:

- Bugger. Telecom NZ is coming. NZ Communications is live. We have to lock our customers now before it is too late.
- What about SIM locking? We can charge a fee for unlocks
- Ok. $100 is too much, people are not getting any discounts on these handsets, so there would be complain. $10 is too little and teens would not worry about moving. Let's make it $50. All approve?
- YES!

And they danced...

Poor Paul Brislen had to find something good to say about it.

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#127669 1-May-2008 18:31

Of course its not a coincidence.

If you owned a business where you had the possibility of your customers defecting to another provider of the same service, you'd do what you could to hold onto those customers, be it through a necessary evil or not.

Sure there's plenty of ways the vocal many on here would like to see VFNZ keep their customer base, but in commercial reality this is a fairly easy (and I would imagine cost effective) way to hold some customers for a bit longer.

As I said previously, you've ALL got the option of
a) buying an unlocked handset from somewhere else and missing some of the services, many of which a LOT of people use, i.e. VMusic, Sky Mobile etc.....
b)Using a different communications supplier.

rcw

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#127672 1-May-2008 18:44

I think it's great that Vodafone is posting on this thread. I really do. I mean that and I hope they'll continue to.

Of course the "we're damaging the phones you paid us good money for in order to serve you better (smiley face)" line ranks with "tobacco's not bad for you as far as we know".

When I heard Telecom was going GSM I wondered if this would happen. I was hoping the consumer protection laws were strong enough to prevent it.

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#127676 1-May-2008 18:59

not all countries lock mobile. people keep saying they shouldnt compare to the rest of the world but remember if you dont things wont remove . the locking of handset would prevent competiton. good thing for parallel importers.they earn more

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#127679 1-May-2008 19:13

ninjabear: not all countries lock mobile. people keep saying they shouldnt compare to the rest of the world but remember if you dont things wont remove . the locking of handset would prevent competiton. good thing for parallel importers.they earn more

Most "countries" don't

Most "providers" do

rcw

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#127680 1-May-2008 19:22

Can't help it. I got to rant further.

Cell carriers being in the retail handset selling business used to make sense but that time has passed. Subsidy locking is a symptom of that mismatch.

It makes the same amount of sense as buying my TV and fridge from the same company that sells me electricity.

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#127682 1-May-2008 19:24

Locking handsets with a $50 fee to unblock them does nothing. I can guarantee both NZ Comms and Telecom will simply give you $50 to get the unlock code if you move to them.

It's simply a revenue stream for Vodafone.

marmel

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#127683 1-May-2008 19:29

Perhaps vodafone should put some of the funds that come from charging unlock fees into web site development. Customers may be less likely to leave if things worked the way they are supposed to and are reliable.

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