Telco competition

The Herald reported:

Pre-pay mobile phone users are reaping the benefits of a price war described by Telecom chief executive Simon Moutter as “a bit of a bloodbath”.

Consumers have been advised to shop around for deals and not get locked into long-term contracts as a three-way contest between Telecom, Vodafone and 2degrees is creating a lot of movement in prices.

Announcing its annual results yesterday, Telecom said it had picked up mobile and broadband customers.

The firm this week relaunched its Skinny mobile brand, previously aimed at teenagers and young adults.

It has now been rebranded as a mainstream “no-frills” option in the mobile market, Mr Moutter said.

It gives a $16-a-month combo of texts, calls and mobile data, which is $3 less than similar 30-day deals from Vodafone or 2degrees.

But Vodafone gives more calling minutes, and under 2degrees’ deal, any unused minutes are added onto users’ limits for the following month.

Excellent. Price wars are great for consumers. Government policy should always focus on how to increase competition in a sector – not how to destroy it!

Telecom said yesterday that it had gained 92,000 customers during the first half of this year, about 48,000 of them pre-pay customers. It now has about 1.8 million clients.

Telecom is doing well going from a monopolistic utility company to a competitive retailer.