Black + White. Will you switch?

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CamH

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#27510 29-Oct-2008 09:40

Just out of pure interest here, how many people are planning to move to B + W?

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#174326 29-Oct-2008 11:00

reignofgold: Just out of pure interest here, how many people are planning to move to B + W?

It was my inital plan to move to B+W, but unfortunately, due to their current plans avaliable, I will be staying with Vodafone.

I'm currently on the Mega plan, and am making good use of it, moving to B+W at this point in time would be too restrictive for me.

i would be more than happy to support B+W if there was a change..

JoeBloggs

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#174331 29-Oct-2008 11:31

I don't think they're going to gain enough customers to become equitable with current offerings. I'm unclear on the details of their agreement with Vodafone but the presumption is that margins are small. This was their clever way of differentiating - FAIL.

kingjj

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#174360 29-Oct-2008 13:37

Simply put, no. The idea of a monthly access fee that does not include any minutes (texts are of no interest) just to save perhaps 29 cents per minute on calling does not appeal. Perhaps a lower access fee might appeal, but at a base rate of $30 its just not going to win over Pre Paid users who might only spend $5-15 a month (ARPU?) with perhaps the odd variation.
Another case of the media touting it as a great new option without siting down to do the finicials just like with Telstras offering.

ajw

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#174378 29-Oct-2008 15:54

I cannot see a price advantage for myself. For $30 per month I get 200 off peak minutes with Telecom. If I went with B+W I would also have to buy a GSM handset. At this stage I am sticking with the devil I know especially as there are supposed to be more MVNO's and NZ Comms entering the mobile market next year.

scottjpalmer

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#174393 29-Oct-2008 17:34

I made the move for the beta and I am sticking with them. For my usage including data and Hosted Exchange it is cheaper for me than Vodafone and B+W are great to deal with.

cokemaster

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#174398 29-Oct-2008 17:47

For me, it would cost a lot more. I use Telecoms Flexi mytime and take advantage of the 10c offpeaking calling to any network and favourites (think bestmate)...

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timestyles

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#174429 29-Oct-2008 18:55

JoeBloggs: I don't think they're going to gain enough customers to become equitable with current offerings. I'm unclear on the details of their agreement with Vodafone but the presumption is that margins are small. This was their clever way of differentiating - FAIL.

When Orcon was attempting to start the whole MVNO game there was an article in Stuff.co.nz that said that VF was charging 30c/min to any new MVNO. Recently there was another article about B+W which said something to the terms of 'we negotiated a lower price' so lets pretend that it's been dropped down to 25c/min. B+W will be charged double that when a B+W cellphone calls a B+W cellphone, but it's quite an unlikely occurance since they have (or will have) little market share. If they have 1% share that means that their effective cost is 0.99x0.25 + 0.01x0.50 which is 0.2525c/min.

Anyway, another item I read said they had 6 staff. Six. It's probably double that now but we're not talking a big company. There are more people taking a sick day on Vodafone than the number of people working at B+W. It does make sense for them to start off expensive and then as their systems get sorted out, drop the price. It really seems unlikely that anyone would actually join up but you never know! I'd rather put my money on NZComms than B+W, should they ever start after this decade/century.

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#174431 29-Oct-2008 19:03

timestyles: I'd rather put my money on NZComms than B+W, should they ever start after this decade/century.

I don't think it's a fair comparision - you can't compare a MVNO with a full service operator. Both have entirely different business models.

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#174433 29-Oct-2008 19:04

sbiddle:
timestyles: I'd rather put my money on NZComms than B+W, should they ever start after this decade/century.

I don't think it's a fair comparision - you can't compare a MVNO with a full service operator. Both have entirely different business models.

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#174446 29-Oct-2008 19:42

at this stage I would have to decline as my usage for mobile is decreasing. Texter plan on Vodafone is the best for my use at this stage, no company in NZ is offering monthly fee voicemail charge and cheaper international SMS service. So I rather stick to the devil I know.

ajw

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#174449 29-Oct-2008 19:55

timestyles:
JoeBloggs: I don't think they're going to gain enough customers to become equitable with current offerings. I'm unclear on the details of their agreement with Vodafone but the presumption is that margins are small. This was their clever way of differentiating - FAIL.

When Orcon was attempting to start the whole MVNO game there was an article in Stuff.co.nz that said that VF was charging 30c/min to any new MVNO. Recently there was another article about B+W which said something to the terms of 'we negotiated a lower price' so lets pretend that it's been dropped down to 25c/min. B+W will be charged double that when a B+W cellphone calls a B+W cellphone, but it's quite an unlikely occurance since they have (or will have) little market share. If they have 1% share that means that their effective cost is 0.99x0.25 + 0.01x0.50 which is 0.2525c/min.

Anyway, another item I read said they had 6 staff. Six. It's probably double that now but we're not talking a big company. There are more people taking a sick day on Vodafone than the number of people working at B+W. It does make sense for them to start off expensive and then as their systems get sorted out, drop the price. It really seems unlikely that anyone would actually join up but you never know! I'd rather put my money on NZComms than B+W, should they ever start after this decade/century.

I note a lot of NZ Comms cellsites being erected in the Wellington region so I do hope that they will launch next year.

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tonyhughes

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#174451 29-Oct-2008 20:04

I get $30 a month and 30c a minute with free calls to my teams mobiles and landlines. No compelling reason for me to change.

I applied for the beta, but being responsible for paying disconnection fees, plus buying a new mobe, plus paying more than twice as much for minutes just didnt stack up.

JoeBloggs

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#174498 29-Oct-2008 23:22

That's interesting timestyles but where is the offpeak differentiation? Is VF only selling peak minutes at peak prices? Interesting strategy but one the CC may have an issue with. Also, I don't see the wisdom of coming in, all guns blazing, at the highest prices. Surely a special of lower then usual prices would lure in potential customers. Even given that wholesale rate, they could come out with some more appealing offers. EDIT ~~It seems they've been denied sale rights to Bestmate as well~~

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#174500 29-Oct-2008 23:30

No, I would never switch to them except to obtain an 028 number to quickly port-out, my impession of them is rather poor.

Curently have Flexi-mytime on Telecom and Starter on Vodafone. both much more mileage for $30!

scottjpalmer

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#174502 29-Oct-2008 23:31

I have the equivalent of BestMates on B+W, they call them "Favourites"

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