Ewan's on a train speeding down from bonnie Scotland but he's still found time to set up a Friday rant. Ewan reckons there's a gap in the market for a network operator to set up a 'no surprises' all inclusive 'flat rate for everything' plan. Your comments welcome, this one could run and run.
Read on in the full article.
Trouble is, your then paying so much extra for those that use it more. Or, vice versa.
Which it might be good for people on a large wage, I cant see many people wanting to do it. Its much easier to get a feel for your minutes, texts and data usage and just keep within your freebies. And stomach it when you go over.
Its quite a lot like the ISP market. There are those offering flat rate services, but they cost huge amounts extra, and the most popular ones have restrictive caps and are cheaper.
Most definitely.
I would even go so far as to say I would pay a bit extra each month to guarantee that there were no surprises...
The biggest rip offs are 0845/0870 numbers, they never come out of your inclusive minutes and operators seem to think they can get away with quoting pricing as 'from 5p-2.50 a minute',
Oftel seriously need to jump allover that bullsh1t.
Even 0800 numbers get charged way above what they should.
I never ring these numbers from a mobile and it's a good idea to keep saynoto0870 bookedmarked through Google optimiser.
You can even dial the search results direct from the browser, which is very cool indeed.
http://www.google.co.uk/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsaynoto0870.com%2Fsearch.php
If there's one thing not going to happen, it is such a fixed pricing scheme. Punters will love it, of course, but it will mean much less money for the operators.
Churn will not be reduced as it will be easier than ever to choose the cheapest operator. The only thing that will happen is a race to the bottom in terms of pricing.
Having a gazillion different pricing schemes is, economically seen, the best way to ensure you make as much money as possible. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cournot for the economic theory behind it.
�40 or �50 per month for a phone? They can stick that. I pay a mximum f �5 on PAYG, voice, data, text included. You can do a serious lot for just �5.
HSDPA data is already only �7.50 per month for those on contracts so the other �40 is virutally limitless unless you talk in your sleep and need someone to hear you.
If I am not mistaken, here in the US Sprint (or was it someone else.. ) was just advertising a $99/month fixed price plan. I just a TV add of their new CEO walking on the street introducing the plan (what a weird ad.. I don't want to see the CEO, I want to see shiny happy people). I am sure there is some small print there somewhere, but the basic idea at least seemed to be what you are saying.
Whilst it might be attractive to certain consumers (although I don't know many people - who pay their own bill - who would be happy paying �600 a year for a mobile, or nearly �2500 for a family of four!!!!!!) operators will never be able to do it because their costs are not fixed. Termination charges mean they can never know how much a customer is going to cost them - particularly with roaming.
We live in a complex society where simple solutions will never fit everyone.
And I'm with unregistered. I'm on PAYG. �5 a month for data, �14 to buy 400 texts (which will last me minimum 2 years) and tuppence happenny on calls. So less that �6 a month and I never have to think "oooh, should I call such and such on the mobile or wait 'till I'm at a landline". I just use it when I feel like it.
Its not actually possible.
You cannot introduce a flat rate monthly payment, because some people will just use huge amounts.
And to counter this, theres 2 things that will happen:
1. The price covers this, so it will be well in excess of �100 per month.
2. They is a fair usage policy, or its capped. In which case, its just like all the other contracts you see, except they might not tell you what your limits for calls/texts/data is.
So your either going to be paying so much per month you dont care about charges anyway, or you'll be constantly worried you go over some hidden fair use account.
Ya, I luv to have that type of tariff, so that I need not carry my two mobiles now...
But the problem is, the subscriber base will decrease, for example, We have one mobile (or sometimes more) for each person... Then it may become "One mobile for each family" or even "One mobile for each appartment"...
I think you can understand, what I am trying to say... 😉
For example, Me and my 10 friends sharing a room can share the above said 50GBP rent as 5GBP each, and use that as PublicPhone for LOOONG and COSTLIER calls and use personal numbers just for incoming....
😉 In any way that wud be very funny and No operator will have guts to do so, IMHO...
Anyone care to name the carrier that charges only �5 for data?
My mobile bill is uniformly �24 per month which comes with 200mb of data, which i only use for email and the odd browser task, and plenty of free mins and text for my usage.
I was stung with a bill for �79 last month and it was a single call which pushed up the bill, a friend had moved to Ireland and I had called him back after we got disconnected.
No warning that the call was expensive, no strange ring tone.
A total flat rate would take away these opportunistic revenues. Sickos
I thought Ewan's rant would get you talking! For what it's worth, I'm also a PAYG advocate, at least now that every decent phone has Wi-Fi. I spend about �10 a month on ad-hoc short calls, texts and data - if I do use the latter, it's capped at �1 a day, which works out great for day trips etc. 99% of my online use (in terms of bytes) of S60 phones is via Wi-Fi, either at home or in offices or via open hotspots.
I suppose I could sign up to a cheap contract, but I'd rather have the total freedom that PAYG offers, swapping SIMs and phones at will.
Steve
come to the US. We have had fixed price contracts for years -- at rates that would make Euros blush. I pay $40 a month for 1200 daytime minutes, unlimited night and weekend starting at 7. Unlimited data is $25 a month extra if you want. Nationwide roaming. Oh, and they throw in 500 SMS messages in for free.
If I wanted to go international, my options do go down. AT&T does offer an international blackberry plan, $80 a month all inclusive, that includes unlimited international data use. Voice roaming, I think, you will still pay for. Verizon has a similar blackberry plan -- included international data -- on a dual CDMA/GSM blakcberry -- although I think it is $130 a month.
Not to mention EVERY US carrier is now offering UNLIMITED voice minutes for $100 a month.
Greeting from the mobile backwater.....
(There had to be one)
50/50 ?
A fixed payment for unlimited data - then pay as you go for calls, texts etc.
I would willingly sign up for something like it. I'm on payg. I make some calls and send some texts every month - but would love an unlimited data plan above all else!
s.
Yep! I'd pay $100 (US) per month for unlimited everything (voice/text/data, including international roaming with a cap) for each of my lines... Where do I sign up?
Currently I pay $80 for 600 day minutes, unlimited night and weekend minutes, 0 texts, and "unlimited" data (with "free" WiFi hotspot use) on T-Mobile USA. So my bill depends on my texts, which are few.
And I pay $120 for a family plan with 700 day minutes shared, 5000 night and weekend minutes shared, 200 texts per line, and "unlimited" data per line on AT&T wireless.
Any time I do international travel (including Canada) I get voice and text roaming charges from hell (which my employer thankfully covers). And of course that's without any data roaming altogether.
hi i have lived in london but now im back home in the sunny caribbean
i can say bills and data rates in the uk were a bit high compared to here in the caribbean
once my plan was
5000 minutes unlimited data(yes the real unlimited) for bds 3009(approx 75pounds) and that included 300 free text and 300 free mms.....
so going the uk was a big shock to me
i agree we/you do need one flat all inclusive plan...with real unlimited data
sorry couldnt edit that should have read
5000 minutes unlimited data 300bds(approx 75pound)
Something is cheaper in the USA? Ooh what a surprise. Is there anything new there? Most thing costs less in the USA, I come back loaded with stuff on every visit.
Tell us something new.
sturgeon wrote:(There had to be one)50/50 ?
A fixed payment for unlimited data - then pay as you go for calls, texts etc.
I would willingly sign up for something like it. I'm on payg. I make some calls and send some texts every month - but would love an unlimited data plan above all else!
s.
One mobile operator does 5 days unlimited data for �2.50 on PAYG. As I spend most weekends and days in range of free WiFi and landlines this is perfect for the odd occasion that I am travelling. On this basis my monthly phone costs vary between �3 and �7 per month. There is absolutely no contract out there that can compete with PAYG. Not in any country anywhere.
i think someones missed the point here.from what iv just read people have just quoted how many texts mins and how much data allowance they get for a fixed fee just like my o2 account was where i got 200 mins call time 500 sms and 200 meg data for �25.
my understanding of ewans rant is you pay sum X no matter what you use.
If your usage is within your contract allowance then you are paying X sum no matter what you use.
Actually the US is not cheaper for mobile technology. Although more or less everything else is cheaper...
Most contracts in the US are 2 years, where we in the UK, 12 and 18 months are common place. They also have to pay $$$ for a cheapo crappy phones we would laugh at. Razr is STILL so big in the states. Go to a cellphone store and all you'll see the limited range of phones they have... There is not much choice. Either Blackberrys or very old model phones. Most still have to recieve calls...
We get upto �500/$1000 phones for FREE on most �35/40 per month tarriff which included tons of minutes, text and even interenet (on a few) or just pay an additional �5/�7.50 for unlimited data. This is on 12 & 18 months contracts.
You can get a free phone in the states too but guess what they'll give you. The phones we had a decade ago...
Most of the states don't even have 3G which we adopted again over a decade ago.
Most still have to recieve calls...
Correction: Most still have to pay to recieve calls...
yeah the US seems decent on price. i have truly unlimited data plan, not even a 5GB cap, for 15 USD extra a month. and i can tether my laptop to it, and its HSDPA. not too shabby at all. my voice plan is typical 60 bucks for 1000 anytime minutes. and i also used truphone over HSDPA to do truly free calls to any cell phone. but that promo ended. the poor canadians above us have horrible data plans. i heard 30MB of data costs 200 dollars! <well it might as well be priced that high...>
my total is a little less than 100 bucks. and there are unlimited everything plans for similar price. but honestly, what else do i need? i talk as much as i need to talk now, without limiting myself. so an everything plan would just be a waste. i use a couple gigabytes of data each month, that's about it. i barely use half my minutes, so i think those unlimited everything plans are just a gimmick for the majority of users except small business people or corporations who send people out in the field using cell constantly.
I'd say a lot of people use a similar methodology already.
People seem to pay for price plans that they usually stay within - some people only use a small part of their free minutes for example but don't reduce their plan 'just in case'.
Also, Vodafone and Orange now do plans that allow unlimited something. Like the AAS article about Voda's dicision to include 500mb web access in all plans over �25/month. The article mentions that any plan of �40/month or over can have unlimited texts, landline calls OR voda-voda calls. The same with one of Orange plans that allows either unlimted text, landline or orange-orange calls.
I think this is a good compromise between what Ewan wrote and business need to make a profit.
As a comparison, t-Mobile's flext plans give you a certain amount of credit towards calls/text/mms and you can add the �7.50 unlimited web plan. So on the �25 a month I get �60 credit which can be used against texts,landline and mobile calls.
With all operators now we get charged silly prices for 08xxx numbers (even 0800 - FREE numbers) and even sillier prices for calling within a country you've travelled to - if my wife calls me while we're on holiday in the same country she has to pay more than if she called that country from the UK (using the mobile), and don't ofrget that I'd be charged the roaming rate for receiving the call even though it's originates locally.
Another little point, remember that the monthly rate usually include a payment for the subsidised phone you got when starting the contract.