Econet finally coming to NZ

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Econet finally coming to NZ

sbiddle

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#5865 3-Dec-2005 19:25

Econet have finally announced plans to enter NZ and start constructing a 3GSM network next year. Things may yet become interesting in the NZ market..

http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/0/FE6BDA7EB6BAE11ACC2570CB001321A4?OpenDocument

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3499153a13,00.html

http://www.nbr.co.nz/home/column_article.asp?id=13704&cid=4&cname=Business%20Today

pervmonkey

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#24194 3-Dec-2005 20:22

This can only be a good thing

alasta

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#24195 3-Dec-2005 20:37

It's taken a while for them to get their act together, but it should be worth the wait.

I note that they're planning on having their service up and running in early 2007 which, if my memory serves correctly, is when number portability is supposedly going to be available in New Zealand. This makes me think that perhaps we mightn't have had to wait this long if number portability had been available earlier.

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#24197 3-Dec-2005 22:19

pervmonkey: This can only be a good thing

Indeed.

Will be great to have increased competition.

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#24211 4-Dec-2005 09:53

The big factor will be what rates for roaming - whether they be forced by the govt or agreed upon between Voda & Econet. Econet are going to have such small coverage to start with that roaming is going to be a very significant issue for them. In virtually every other country when there have been new networks rolled out there have been multiple GSM operators for them to roam on meaning a bit of a dogfight between the networks to be the roaming provider. This obiously can't happen in NZ.

jesseycy

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#24401 8-Dec-2005 02:06

Roaming agreement is the most important????

Hmm, not for me, and not for many of my friends either.....

I stay in Auckland, and hey, if any mobile company offers me the cheapest rate for "Auckland Only", I'll gladly take that up. Be it "Call from auckland only", or even "Call within auckland only". No problem.....

Using current rates as an example, I was discussingh with friends, if Vodafone comes up with a "Call within auckland only" Prepay rate of $0.3, and NZ wide for $0.5 we'll glady take that up.....

WHY NOT?? Hey, how often do you guys call out of your own zone anyway???

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#24403 8-Dec-2005 07:08

jesseycy: I stay in Auckland, and hey, if any mobile company offers me the cheapest rate for "Auckland Only", I'll gladly take that up. Be it "Call from auckland only", or even "Call within auckland only". No problem.....

-snip-

WHY NOT?? Hey, how often do you guys call out of your own zone anyway???

My job doesn't require me to undertake any travel, so the only time I'm away from home is when I take a holiday every three months, but I still need to be able to have a phone that I can take with me.

What happens if I have an emergency while I'm travelling? This is one of the main advantages of having a mobile phone.

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#24407 8-Dec-2005 08:23

there was a ridiculous situation years ago where 'mobile' phones had local, regional and national call areas with different prices for all... oh wait...

My opinion is that we wont see a return to this sort of pricing for regions, but simply the status quo with 'on net' and 'off net' pricing.

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cokemaster

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#24416 8-Dec-2005 09:29

Disenchanted: there was a ridiculous situation years ago where 'mobile' phones had local, regional and national call areas with different prices for all... oh wait...

My opinion is that we wont see a return to this sort of pricing for regions, but simply the status quo with 'on net' and 'off net' pricing.

I hope not. They have that system in China with Chinamobile (can't say for China Unicom). Basically if you were in Tianjin and you called Shanghai or Beijing it would cost more.

In addition sending text messages to different cities would also occur charges.

They have had 'roaming'. If you brought your SIM card from one city, then that would be your home city according to the network. Going out of that city - say from Beijing to Shanghai would incur roaming charges (even though its the same network).

You also had to pay when sending/recieving calls and when roaming this got quite complex.

In a way I perfer the system we have here where you don't need to worry about what city a person is in, what city you are in - without exception of the prices

.

(Most of this information was supplied by my girlfriend and other websites as Chinamobiles English support is useless from past experience)

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chiefie

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#24419 8-Dec-2005 10:23

i think that sort of charges is common in other countries, certainly the same as Malaysia too and US too.

I hate that system as it is very confusing, which is why I say NZ's charging is the easiest to understand, albeit it is more expensive in some respect.

The on-net/off-net/region charges is similar to Woosh's network, so if you're based in chch, chch is your home network, then if you go to wellington or other woosh enabled area, then you are on roaming. this idea is good for local use, but for some that travel quite commonly, or have friends in other areas, then it is stupid and costing a lot!

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tonyhughes

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#24422 8-Dec-2005 11:02

chiefie: i think that sort of charges is common in other countries, certainly the same as Malaysia too and US too.

I hate that system as it is very confusing, which is why I say NZ's charging is the easiest to understand, albeit it is more expensive in some respect.

The on-net/off-net/region charges is similar to Woosh's network, so if you're based in chch, chch is your home network, then if you go to wellington or other woosh enabled area, then you are on roaming. this idea is good for local use, but for some that travel quite commonly, or have friends in other areas, then it is stupid and costing a lot!

By on net and off net i am meaning telcos that have a nationwide netwrok (big ups to Telecom and Vodafone for investing in the -whole- country and not just the low hanging fruit), and provide cheaper calling should you call another phone on the same network, regardless of where you are (Kaitaia to Bluff....)

jesseycy

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#25855 7-Jan-2006 17:36

Well, I still think the main deciding factor would be price, and then call quality, and finally coverage.

Cause if it's dirt cheap, or even half the rate of Voda/Tel, I'll glady switch to Econet. Probably pop the old voda pre-pay sim card back in my phone when I take a trip out of Auckland.

As for inzone/outzone pricing, it's not hard. Basically, when you sign on / buy a sim card, it has a "region" attached. You can't really tell from the phone numbers though, that's the weak point.
But pricing wise, well, if you call when out of your zone, or call someone who is out of zone, it's more expensive. That's it.. What's so hard to understand? It's the same deal as roaming in australia and calling someone in australia, just that you can't tell from the mobile number.

alasta:
jesseycy: I stay in Auckland, and hey, if any mobile company offers me the cheapest rate for "Auckland Only", I'll gladly take that up. Be it "Call from auckland only", or even "Call within auckland only". No problem.....

-snip-

WHY NOT?? Hey, how often do you guys call out of your own zone anyway???

My job doesn't require me to undertake any travel, so the only time I'm away from home is when I take a holiday every three months, but I still need to be able to have a phone that I can take with me.

What happens if I have an emergency while I'm travelling? This is one of the main advantages of having a mobile phone.