Vodafone me-too’s on £25/month Broadband service
Link: BBC NEWS | Business | Vodafone joins broadband brigade
is to become the latest mobile phone group to move into the broadband market with the launch of its £25-a-month At Home service.
The service, which should be available to most of the UK, will be available to contract customers from 8 January.
I saw this story at the end of last week and frankly, well, I’d had enough of Vodafone’s broadband strategy. I think I am really still smarting over my stupid international data bill from a while ago.
So I left it a day or so and received quite a few comments on the matter, all echoing this one, well made, from Mr Fixed Line SMS himself, Paul Worsley (NTS Telecom):
Should they not first offer some sensible data tariffs to their existing customers? Why is that a firm that was once considered Skoda Phone (121/T-Mob) are now the leader of the pack when it comes to mobile data.
What VF and all the other operators with the exception of T-Mobile fail to realise is that most folks that want data, will also make and receive a decent amount of calls - which makes them money.
And as for 3 thinking that the market for all that lovely bandwidth is footy fans and pop video loving teens - they are sad beyond stupidity.
Just my few bytes worth.
Actually i think this strategy makes a lot of sense. Why bother with the minority who actually use data on their phone (they’ll pay for it, its still an early adopter thing…) when the majority of people just want to make calls and create a few texts. When you know these same people have finally realised that broadband (never mind wireless bb and god forbid fixed mobile comms) should be part of their lives and you’re a communications business, well, it just makes sense to converge the two and use the trust people have in your brand to provide broadband and increase (household) ARPU.
Mobile data has got nothing to do with it. We’re a small subset, as Ewan has stated before the operators don’t really care. Not when local loop unbundling and white box deals with smaller ISP providers can bring in a considerably larger return with little operational cost bar the billing and a bit of marketing.
Oh, and obviously you get significantly increased ’stickiness’ or inertia to leave, having bought into Voda and a converged price plan for 18 months it will seem too much like hard work leaving the service and having to find TWO new providers if things don’t work out. You’ll stick with the broadband tarriff you don’t like just because you’re still happy with the phone tarriff and ‘good reception’.
Well done and fair play to Vodafone and Orange.
Posted by Ed on November 13th, 2006 at 10:29 am.Just a point on broadband ’stickiness’ — if you want to change supplier, last time I tried, you had to agree to 10 days downtime from your existing supplier, … then it took 10 days+ for your new supplier to ‘check the line’ and whatnot, before activating you. Almost a month in some cases. That’s a HUGE switching barrier.
Posted by ewan on November 13th, 2006 at 10:40 am.