Comments on: Excited at the voice price plan consolidation

By: PhoneBoy

PhoneBoy — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:46:50 +0000

@Terence I think billing systems will always be needed. There are always items outside the normal tariffs on people's bills. Certainly the bills will be much simpler when things go flat-rate. PhoneBoy's last blog post..Why Unlimited Mobile Voice Means Higher ARPU For Carriers

By: Ricky C

Ricky C — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:13:13 +0000

3UK might surprise us all….. Unless you know something we don’t

By: Pashion

Pashion — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:51:58 +0000

I get 400 mins anytime, any number (excl international and non-geo nums of course), 250 texts and 1gb data for �35 per month and to be honest i haven’t gone over anything other than the texts (and that was twice in 4 years).
I think to leap up to �99 is a bit excessive, i never thought i’d say this but its only a phone lol

By: Terence Eden

Terence Eden — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:52:49 +0000

The real advantage in this is in billing. Billing systems are notoriously complex and prone to error. If you’re on an unlimited plan, you don’t need an itemised bill, you don’t need a complex billing engine, you don’t need to snail mail or email out bills and you don’t have to spend money on CSA dealing with billing disputes.

Of course, the disadvantage (for phone companies) is that it fuels a price war. Will customers go for a more reliable network for �99pcm or will they go for an unreliable network for �90?

By: PhoneBoy

PhoneBoy — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:09:55 +0000

The problem you guys have in the UK is the fact it's a different charge to call a mobile versus a landline. Here in the US, it's generally the same cost. Well, not EXACTLY, but in most cases, the per-minute difference is small enough that all the providers eat it. Certainly where the vast majority of the population base is, the cost is nearly the same. (There's that little bit about the the big carriers subsidizing the rural U.S. phone carriers by having to pay substantially higher rates to terminate calls, but that's usually small enough to write off or something) Until the cross-network charges get normalized in the UK (and the rest of the EU), I wouldn't expect any unlimited plans of any sort there. PhoneBoy's last blog post..Why Unlimited Mobile Voice Means Higher ARPU For Carriers