John Linton
While I was away I noticed the significant trend in the UK was for the main DSL providers to offer a combined DSL/Wireline/Mobile service at a fixed price including all/a large number of mobile and wireline calls. Typicaly a combined 'package' was between 25 and 30 UK pounds.
During that time, Optus released a similar deal (without the mobile) at $70.00 which I would think would be a major winner in moving the remaining dial up users on to ADSL2 in the exchanges where Optus can offer the ADSL2 service.
The 2 gb download limit won't worry a dial up user and the free modem and free activation is a major incentive.
I also looked at Dodo's "free" ADSL offer along with their $10.00 and $20.00 offers which are eye catching and I would imagine will also be attracting a lot of inexperienced users as they too seem to be offering free modems and line activations.
The fine print make these offers a little less attractive (as do their UK counterparts) but they will, at least as I see it, be very successful in moving people off dial up.
Looking at the other ADSL2 offers from the ISPs who provide those services doesn't raise much enthusiasm - they are mostly very "me tooish" with complicated conditions and set ups - with the possible exception of the new TPG offer which stands out from the rest - at least as far as the 'heavier user' of DSL is concerned.
Exetel was not set up, and still isn't set up, to cater for a large percentage of its users being new and inexperiencd with DSL - let alone dealing with their telephone line issues. So I don't think we will 'chase' that market sector as I would prefer to continue to provide services to people who have had heir 'hand held' by some other ISP through their basic learning curve and then be able to provide services via a free or low cost churn.
So I made a number of decisions today to change the ADSL2 offerings and the changes will be put in to effect starting today and be in place at the latest by the end of the week.
The current ADSL2 with telephone line rental plans will remain as they are (though to make 'comparison shopping' a little easier we will increase the telephone line charge by $5.00 and decrease the DSL charge by $5.00) and I will add three new plans to widen the target market a little. The new plans will either start at $10.00 a month or $15.00 a month (I'm still waiting for some information needed to make that decision) and one plan will include 'unlimited' wire line telephone calls.
It will be interesting to track the results over the next 4 - 5 weeks.