Anyone know if there are any new Broadband Plans coming out?

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Anyone know if there are any new Broadband Plans coming out?

Valcor

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#311641 3-Feb-2024 23:02

Been waiting since Black Friday to renew my Broadband plan now that I am out of contract but seems the Telcos are skimping with no Free Prime Video or other Streaming providers/$150 prezzy cards/6 month free or any great value plans like the past few years.

Nothing decent for either Black Friday or Christmas, when do they usually release deals or is my best bet to go for the Slingshot at $65 a month for 300/100?

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meow
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#3190129 3-Feb-2024 23:09

Slingshot is just 2degrees. Orcon is just 2degrees. Just ask 2degrees directly for a deal if you want one but you’ve also got to make a call if it’s worth it. Broadband costs have also just gone up across the board. There’s already a deal for $69/mo provided you’ve got mobile through them and you can often call yearly for a deal after that.

IMHO while there are savings to be had I don’t get people who jump between providers all the time considering it is a low margin product to begin with and there are comparatively small savings. If you really want to save money I’d start with your power company as this is often the most overlooked aspect of a household and where you can often make the most savings. Depending on who is the cheapest here you may be able to get cheap subsidised broadband via that provider too.

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Valcor

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#3190137 4-Feb-2024 00:11

I dunno, I did get the 6 months free (Which I did on the fastest fibre speed) on Skinny then $74 a month on 300/100 for the remainder of the contract then I switched to 2Degrees and got $65 month 300/100 +$150 prezzy card and prime video for 12 months with 1/2 price mobile plan for 6 months with a 12-month contract.

These are considerable savings and benefits worth switching providers for, another being that 2Degrees probably has the worst customer service, there was a time when you couldn't even get through to their call centre so that alone is another motivation to switch and also some providers give you free modems with 12 month plans that you can use as mesh or just sell.

For me, the changing providers hasn't been a hassle because I know the dates for cut off and reconnection to the new provider, so I am yet to have a day without service.

I already switch between power providers on a yearly basis, been with Flick, Electric Kiwi, Octopus and Powershop the last 5 years alone.

quickymart

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#3190145 4-Feb-2024 07:52

Valcor:

I dunno, I did get the 6 months free (Which I did on the fastest fibre speed) on Skinny then $74 a month on 300/100 for the remainder of the contract then I switched to 2Degrees and got $65 month 300/100 +$150 prezzy card and prime video for 12 months with 1/2 price mobile plan for 6 months with a 12-month contract.

These are considerable savings and benefits worth switching providers for, another being that 2Degrees probably has the worst customer service, there was a time when you couldn't even get through to their call centre so that alone is another motivation to switch and also some providers give you free modems with 12 month plans that you can use as mesh or just sell.

When was all this though? There have been lots of changes in recent years, and the freebies/discounts etc are getting hard to come by - as Mr Murphy points out above.

Valcor

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#3190234 4-Feb-2024 11:06

Well my recent contract just finished around Black Friday as I usually get the Black Friday or Christmas deals, but it has only been this current Black Friday/Christmas where there hasn't been any decent offers.

The best now is either $65 a month with skinny and 1 month free (works out to be just under $60 a month for 300/100) and a free modem.

$65 a month on slingshot

At the moment Skinny is probably the better choice because you also get chat support, but my question still remains if anyone knows if there are any new plans about to be released or what times of year they usually run promotions other than Black Friday and Christmas?

paulgr

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#3190236 4-Feb-2024 11:09

Spark still has free Netflix Standard with their Broadband plans.

Valcor

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#3190247 4-Feb-2024 11:41

Yeah, I used to be on Spark when you used to get Netflix and Lightbox/Neon and Spark Sports free.

But now it is $97 a month for that 300/100 plan with no free modem, and at that point it is just cheaper on a $65 p/m ISP and subscribing to Netflix when you want something to watch. I have largely gone off Netflix because of their funding model, they easily just cancel series, so there is a lot of sunk cost fallacy.

Also the trick with streaming services is not to be subscribed to them because you get offers like pay one month for 3 months, or in Apple TVs case I have got free Apple TV for a year in the past 24 months from not being subbed during promos.

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Oblivian

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#3190261 4-Feb-2024 12:28

3 magic letters. NDA.

On-top of that base broadband the isp is charged is built on chorus' terms. Their speed sets, their pricing.

From about October each year. So they are now bound to the new costs for renewals.

ISPs then have the margin game. As it went up again end of last year, don't hold out much hope.
The pricing changes to persuade people off legacy speeds onto the new.

https://sp.chorus.co.nz/product-update/confirmed-fibre-price-changes-october-2023

The other reason hopping around because someone put the price up can be a waste. Soon after most follow.

michaelmurfy

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#3190466 4-Feb-2024 16:39

But you're clearly online already. Do you need a free modem? Most providers don't actually give a free modem anymore but you can rent one from them for the very reason of people either selling them or them ending up in ewaste somewhere.

I guess for you, the free modem is to sell. But if you wanted the absolute cheapest deal why not just go with Skinny Wireless instead of Fibre? I honestly think your days of milking providers for freebies are basically over with the recent Chorus price increases. Skinny also technically charge $5 per month for 12 months ($60) for a modem as if you used BYO you get $5/mo off. To be honest if Skinny read this, I'm going to recommend making it a modem rental going forward with a $150 charge if not returned to stop people from grabbing a modem to just sell it off as it is just a waste.

You're not going to get an answer out of anyone here about upcoming deals. You may be able to talk to retention to get a deal but upcoming deals are often under a NDA.

Valcor

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#3190489 4-Feb-2024 18:43

michaelmurfy:

But you're clearly online already. Do you need a free modem? Most providers don't actually give a free modem anymore but you can rent one from them for the very reason of people either selling them or them ending up in ewaste somewhere.

I guess for you, the free modem is to sell. But if you wanted the absolute cheapest deal why not just go with Skinny Wireless instead of Fibre? I honestly think your days of milking providers for freebies are basically over with the recent Chorus price increases. Skinny also technically charge $5 per month for 12 months ($60) for a modem as if you used BYO you get $5/mo off. To be honest if Skinny read this, I'm going to recommend making it a modem rental going forward with a $150 charge if not returned to stop people from grabbing a modem to just sell it off as it is just a waste.

You're not going to get an answer out of anyone here about upcoming deals. You may be able to talk to retention to get a deal but upcoming deals are often under a NDA.

Well actually, I have used free modems as signal extenders across my house, and It is not really a negative to be getting deals that offer maximum value for money, why wouldn't I upgrade a modem to a new model especially from how far technology changes, when wifi transmition go from 2.4 Ghz to 5.0Ghz to 6.0Ghz or if you modem breaks, it is always better to have spare than to have to pay an extra $200 out of contract.

To tell someone not to expect anything in return for 12 or 24 month contract is counter-productive and anticompetitive, the whole point of competition for customers to get value for money rather than going back to the monopoly hellhole we had before the Government forced Telecom break up.

As you have pointed out it is already built into their costing of their plan and if that is true they shouldn't be advertising "FREE MODEM with 12 Month Contract", but thanks for pointing that out, That would take down the Skinny Fibre Connection for $55 p/m with BYO and the month free as I still have a skinny modem still a box from 2 years ago.

And the reason I am going for Fibre instead of wireless is because it is more reliable and my Fibre connection is there because I spent many a year under a contract for it to be installed, But as I have experienced I don't need anything more than 300/100 connection, I still manage to download hundreds of gigs a month with low latency, don't experience any buffering or slow down of service so why would I choose a spotty service compared to wired?

And I will point out, I am not expecting people to spill exact plans, I named the dates I usually change my connection are there other trends like Easter or other holidays when telcos have always run promotions. I am aware plans don't leak but there definitely are trends for when promotions usually run.

Sorry for the long reply, but you seemed to be attacking me for getting value for my dollar when most of these companies are posting profits, so I am not the one "milking" anyone.

Valcor

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#3190493 4-Feb-2024 18:51

Oblivian: 3 magic letters. NDA.

On-top of that base broadband the isp is charged is built on chorus' terms. Their speed sets, their pricing.

From about October each year. So they are now bound to the new costs for renewals.

ISPs then have the margin game. As it went up again end of last year, don't hold out much hope.
The pricing changes to persuade people off legacy speeds onto the new.

https://sp.chorus.co.nz/product-update/confirmed-fibre-price-changes-october-2023

The other reason hopping around because someone put the price up can be a waste. Soon after most follow.

Thanks, but would you say they only release promotions during that period of time or are there other key times of the year generally when they have campaigns for customers like Easter or Winter?

I am just looking for trends rather than full details now that i have been out of contract for a few months, Skinny is seeming like a good option because customer service has been pretty shocking with 2degrees and no live chat.

RunningMan

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#3190500 4-Feb-2024 19:38

You asked if there are any upcoming deals. The only people who can answer this question with any certainty at all won't do so because it would undermine their company's marketing.

You've already worked out the plethora of deals that used to be around have gone (that's what happens when money is tight and prices have been forced down), so check out what each provider is offering and pick one that best suits your requirements.

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farcus

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#3190519 4-Feb-2024 20:10

Spark form tonight - Free Mesh

and

https://www.spark.co.nz/getmore/

quickymart

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#3190528 4-Feb-2024 21:13

Valcor:

To tell someone not to expect anything in return for 12 or 24 month contract is counter-productive and anticompetitive, the whole point of competition for customers to get value for money rather than going back to the monopoly hellhole we had before the Government forced Telecom break up.

But that's exactly what I do. I've been with Spark for ages and don't call up every year essentially expecting something for nothing. As long as the plan I have works, I'll stay on it. If it gets too expensive, then yes, I would look around. But constantly chopping and changing just to save $5 isn't really worth the hassle or my time.

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#3190530 4-Feb-2024 21:30

quickymart: But that's exactly what I do. I've been with Spark for ages and don't call up every year essentially expecting something for nothing. As long as the plan I have works, I'll stay on it. If it gets too expensive, then yes, I would look around. But constantly chopping and changing just to save $5 isn't really worth the hassle or my time.

Depends on your use-case though. For your basic customer, sure! For many of us on here it is an absolute hassle to change providers due to homelab setups, whitelisted IP addresses and all that stuff. It is a nightmare for me to change providers too!

But something to remember is not all providers are the same. Somebody on here explained it in a way I really like (this is 100% stolen from him). The ISP industry is full of marketing pushes and has resulted in people seeing broadband purely as a commodity like power. Power, you either get or you don't, getting cheaper doesn't change your power quality whereas internet has so many varying factors with the providers network, service, bandwidth, quality, peering etc. It's hardly apples to apples between anyone's network unless if you're moving within the main sub-brand (eg - 2degrees, Orcon, Slingshot or Spark, Skinny, BigPipe).

Broadband is not too bad as far as services go pricing wise as many providers are within a stones throw between one another but as I've always said on here broadband networks are all different. I'm personally happy paying for a network suited for my needs as are many others on here. Spark have a pretty solid network too that just works.

Valcor

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#3190680 4-Feb-2024 21:50

quickymart:

Valcor:

To tell someone not to expect anything in return for 12 or 24 month contract is counter-productive and anticompetitive, the whole point of competition for customers to get value for money rather than going back to the monopoly hellhole we had before the Government forced Telecom break up.

But that's exactly what I do. I've been with Spark for ages and don't call up every year essentially expecting something for nothing. As long as the plan I have works, I'll stay on it. If it gets too expensive, then yes, I would look around. But constantly chopping and changing just to save $5 isn't really worth the hassle or my time.

Yes, but I am not switching to save $5 a month... In cases, I have saved over $300 - $600 over the year with bundled value such as prezzy cards, modem, streaming membership and straight out free months with discounts on the mobile plan for switching and then discounts on bundling.

Like 6 months free on any speed is worth switching alone to a Spark subsidiary.

I see it more as a hassle having to beg my ISP to give me a discount, rather than my ISP offering me a new contract when my previous one ends.

Currently, with 2 degrees off contract my broadband has gone up from $65 to $97 then minus bundle it goes down to $87 or something, but everywhere else is offering $65 ($55 with Skinny) for the same speed and I haven't had any problems with any of the ISPs I have been using.

But it would be faster for me to send a letter of cancellation on my connection and sign up to a new provider than wait on the phone for 2Degrees rep then beg them to send me to customer retention to offer me something close. Even better with online chat is I can just send the cut off date when I get the connection date it's all done.

I am just a standard net user for streaming, gaming and don't have overly complicated network needs and live in Central Wellington.

TBH I haven't noticed much difference between Spark, Skinny or 2 Degrees through my back and forth except for on customer service.

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