why cant we have mobile plans like Ting (US) in new zealand?

Forums › New Zealand Mobile and Wireless › why cant we have mobile plans like Ting (US) in new zealand?

hamish225

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Topic # 151510 27-Aug-2014 20:58

I've been hearing the youtubers i watch go on about ting, from what i understand ting is a mobile carrirer in the US that caters to the budget market.

i had a look on their site and i really liked how they let you pick and choose the bits you want on your plan.

https://ting.com/rates

what im really asking here is why dont vodafone, telecom (spark) and 2degrees let you build your own plan like ting?

i pay for 300 minutes but i use about 10, i mostly use data and text, we could get rid of all but 50 minutes and be done with it, however this was the best way i could see to get more mobile data, witch is very important to me, but at the same time so are texts.

richms

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Reply # 1116862 27-Aug-2014 21:17

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Doesnt really look that cheap, and the + surcharges part in the US is a massive amount too.

Richard rich.ms

PhantomNVD

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Reply # 1116866 27-Aug-2014 21:22

richms: Doesnt really look that cheap, and the + surcharges part in the US is a massive amount too.

Off topic?

I think he means why can't we get 'build your own packages' like these are, rather than why cant we get THESE priced packages?

Inphinity

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Reply # 1116871 27-Aug-2014 21:28

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100minutes, 1000txt, 500mb $26+surcharges... far more than the equivalent $19 plans here. Doesn't seem cheap? Flexibility is nice though.

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hamish225

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Reply # 1116876 27-Aug-2014 21:41

I'm sure they would be cheaper here, they'd have to be to compete with the $19 prepay deals. But the flexibility is what I was referring to :)

michaelmurfy

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Reply # 1116885 27-Aug-2014 22:02

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Just another system to support, and more customer confusion.

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PhantomNVD

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Reply # 1117615 28-Aug-2014 23:00

But a perfect space for 2degrees to fill :)

richms

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Reply # 1117622 28-Aug-2014 23:20

2degrees have enough confusion and problems where peoples wrong allocations of stuff get used or they are charged casual data not shared etc. Sounds fun.

Richard rich.ms

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Reply # 1117625 28-Aug-2014 23:25

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we did a lot of research on plans and pricing models before launching Bigpipe. (and before that I worked in Telco pricing very closely)

Turns out, whilst people in focus groups will tell you they want ultimate choice and total flexibility, that isn't what actually works in real life

In real life, people presented with all this complexity and dozens of different choices tend to:

a) be less likely to sign up because it ends up being too complicated to pick a plan so they give up.
b) if they do sign up, they pick cheaper plans, even if that doesn't actually fit their needs (because they don't understand the complexity, they go with the only thing they do understand - which is price). picking the wrong plan leads to big dissatisfaction.
c) even if they do happen to pick the plans that are right for them, they still end up less satisfied (the cognitive dissonance is too high - with so many plans they had to reject it makes them feel like they probably picked the wrong one.)

From the carriers point of view, having low conversion rate, and customers that spend less and are less satisfied is pretty bad.
And then on top of that there is the cost of a hugely complex billing solution that can cope with this infinite variety of plans, not to mention managing the customers in-life when they get bills that change every month and end up calling to find out why. Training staff on the 400 plan combinations you have is also pretty tough.

Most Telcos/ISPs fall into this trap, listening to these focus groups and adding more and more plans and increasing the complexity.

That's why we decided at Bigpipe to only have three plans, keeping them all flat rate with no extra fees. The only thing that changes between our plans is the speed and price. Everything else is the same.
Of course we'll be adding a couple more with UFB, but we'll still keep speed as the only difference between them to keep it simple to manage and easy to understand.

customers can more easily see the differences between the plans, they end up more satisfied with their choice, and it costs us less to manage - fewer queries from customers about their bill, less complex systems required means we canmake changes very quickly. All that means more money to put towards international bandwidth, and therefore better broadband.

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Reply # 1117636 28-Aug-2014 23:35

Thanks for the detailed response BP.

Guess what I really want is to trade all my unused rollover minutes for data, so really I'd think a bolt on option would be the easiest way for this to happen... Much like your speed difference.
I guess the $x-add ons do this, but if the base cost was A and then the add ons B, C,D were applied (minutes/data/texts) wouldn't that be the simplest to offer AND provide?

That way you'd know for example cust1=20mins,1gbdata,and unlimited text, cust2=1000mins,no data,no texts, and cust3=50mins,50mb, and unlimited texts.. Ie pricing and network support and dev would cater exactly to the base customers use and not oversupply voice or data like a blanket $19 plan does?

richms

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Reply # 1117641 28-Aug-2014 23:54

The thing with mobile is you are basically buying 3 services ontop of the connection, whereas with home broadband it is a single service. I hate phonecalls and dont really sms a great deal, but do use a lot of data. That is why I get the spark $19 pack and then add a 3 gigs for $29 pack (which is now more expensive) - for a while I did add 2 of those packs but my usage dropped signifigantly with stopping checking the work email.

Those addons available from spark are pretty close to what ting offers, with the exception that I have to buy the $19 plan to start with. The thing is, with the $6 and the first calling bundle and the cost for the BS regulatory fees, you would be over NZD 19 already, so there isnt a big benifit in going cheaper.

There are also data only offerings from the telcos in NZ, and you can change between the $19 plans and data plans, so again, not too far off what they offer.

Richard rich.ms

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Reply # 1117644 29-Aug-2014 00:03

richms: The thing with mobile is you are basically buying 3 services ontop of the connection, whereas with home broadband it is a single service. I hate phonecalls and dont really sms a great deal, but do use a lot of data. That is why I get the spark $19 pack and then add a 3 gigs for $29 pack (which is now more expensive) - for a while I did add 2 of those packs but my usage dropped signifigantly with stopping checking the work email.

Those addons available from spark are pretty close to what ting offers, with the exception that I have to buy the $19 plan to start with. The thing is, with the $6 and the first calling bundle and the cost for the BS regulatory fees, you would be over NZD 19 already, so there isnt a big benifit in going cheaper. There are also data only offerings from the telcos in NZ, and you can change between the $19 plans and data plans, so again, not too far off what they offer.

that's true (referring to bolded part), but given current trends I suspect it won't be long before all plans are unlimited voice and text ()they are already unlimited txt in most cases), and the only thing you will pay for extra will be data.

and yes, NZ does have pretty close to what the OP wants, if you're willing to look carefully.

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