Friday, October 2. 2009Despite Being A Total Fool With No Clues.......John Linton .........about what broad band buyers need, want and will buy - I finally finished the re-vamp of the ADSL2 plans that will be offered from October 1st 2009 at around 2 am yesterday. In the end the changes were far more radical than I had anticipated and addressed far more issues than I had expected to be able to do. I think it was only the freshness of mind of 4 weeks absence from the daily minutiae involved in running a small business which despite, all the strange errors that jet lag induces, allowed such a comprehensive review of the market, the current and possible changes in Exetel's costings and an analysis of the short term future economic pressures to be done in such a relatively short time and produce such a "radically" different set of plans. The constant feedback from current customers throughout the process was almost overwhelmingly negative and, in many ways, that was to be expected because the new ADSL2 plans are not aimed at the profile range of Exetel's current customers who, for the most part, are mature individuals with a realistic knowledge of communications technologies and what it can really do for the more sophisticated user.....there are obviously many exceptions to that within Exetel's current user base but they tend not to be the ones who comment, at least not to me. Exetel has always highly valued its 'intelligent' customers and has shown this in many ways including its Pioneer Discount program which gives Exetel's earliest customers a significant monthly cost saving on whatever plan they use as well as providing them with various 'grace and favour' accommodations to meet their specific needs over the years. We will continue to meet the needs of all of our current customers by allowing them to remain on the various 'generations' of plans that they have selected over the years and many tens of thousands of those plans provide services that make Exetel very little, or in some cases no, money at all. So no current customer has been inconvenienced in any way by the sharp change in 'focus' these new ADSL2 plans represent. The new ADSL2 plans have been aimed at addressing a wider market than Exetel has aimed at in the past. This has become necessary simply because the residential markets available to Exetel have changed and if we don't more closely meet those market's needs then our residential ADSL2 business will decline which is something we would not like to see happen at this stage of the company's development. The new plans are aimed at providing the best value for money at the lowest possible prices to the more 'general' ADSL2 buyers than the more 'sophisticated' buyers which we previously tried to address - or maybe kidded ourselves we did. As far as I can see, and I've looked pretty completely and double and triple checked my analysis, the new plans offer lower prices with more functionality and far more possible add ons (at low prices) than any other provider to three of the more general residential marketplaces - and they do this in a major and conclusive way - no ifs or buts or "if you look at it this ways" type garbage - just straight out lower monthly costs for more of everything. Also no activation fee for either new or churn customers. Also no 18 month or 24 month contracts. Also a choice of ULL, SSS or No PSTN line at all choices - something no other ISP is able to offer from Telstra down to the dregs. So, all in all, a very compelling set of plans that include the very lowest monthly prices and a 'complete' range of options for every level of the three largest residential marketplaces......only in my opinion of course. Despite the criticism I received while developing this new approach, and of course everyone can have an opinion on how to run an ISP, the first day's sales orders were quite pleasing with a noticeable increase which, while in no way meaningful, was more heartening to see than a decrease. I will be particularly interested to see if the different plans that have been targeted at different marketplaces actually work out but that won't be known for quite a while. However I was pleased to see our sales of ADSL via SSS pick up very sharply on the first day. It will be an interesting few weeks to see what happens and whether our intentions are met. For those people who contributed their, positive, suggestions - thank you for your interest and help - I always find other views both interesting and helpful in making final decisions. For those people who suggest I've got it hopelessly wrong - you could well be right but at the end of the day a decision on what Exetel does has to be made and the people who have the most to lose (or gain) from that process have to take the responsibility for making whatever decisions they deem to be in the best interests of Exetel and its customers....they also then get to endlessly agonise over those decisions.
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I semi-like the new plans, but believe now more than ever you need to create an "Extra's" section where people can order add-on's to their plans.
i.e. $3/month for DID+50 local calls. $1/month for 20 sms's. etc etc. Either that or still allow people to choose your old "frilly" plans that had all the add-in's. I know in setting up ADSL for my parents (who are getting a tad long-in-the-tooth), the selling point that finally convinced them to move off dial-up was the 100 free landline calls to anywhere in Australia every month. I did everything for them, configured their Modem/ATA to use their normal phone handsets etc all they had to do was dial and reap the free calls... plus they got broadband! Bonus! p.s. You current VOIP Post Paid Plans (01/10/09) are quite confusing, can you please clarify the difference between Post VoIP 0 and HSPA VoIP? One looks cheaper than the other but doesn't say why etc... Comment (1)
You're quite right and that will be done but it was all I could cope with to get the base plans revised - it was a much bigger job than it looks.
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We made the mobile charge on HSPA lower to encourage more usage and to attempt to show that 'capped' mobile call charges aren't as attractive as they appear.
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I must say that you have "decluttered" the plans a fair bit which is nice, I was initially excited at 50c/Gb excess usage charges but obviously sense got the better of you and these were revised, if possible in the future I would certainly see myself using that option if the pricing was a bit leaner than $1.50/Gb but I understand that you have a business to run! Keep up the good work.
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Here’s a idea which I was going to send via the suggestion box put will put it out there for comment instead by your blog readers.
I’d like to see Exetel offer ‘FlexiPeak’. FlexiPeak is this; all plans come with peak and off-peak quota with user selectable peak start time. As far as I know, no other ISP does this and would to my mind have great marketing potential as well as offering user flexibility. I suspect there would also be scope for such a scheme to aid in back-end bandwidth management. It would also overcome the ‘issue’ of disparity for number of peak hours which has been a source of friction of late. There would be 8 peak start times, 12 midnight, 3AM, 6AM, 9AM, 12 noon, 3PM, 6PM and 9PM. A listbox or radio button on your members page allows you to specify your peak start time. A change in setting comes into play for start next month. If too many members specify the same peak start time and/or bandwidth utilization for that peak start is high, then you can temporarily stop new selections for that period and users can then select their next best/closest period. With the diversity of usage times across the install base I would like to think this would further help flatten or spread usage patterns. Maybe a user trail for such a system to see how it works in practice. I know you’ve just introduced new plans but I do think such a scheme has great potential. Comment (1)
This defeats the reasoning for what off-peak actually is. It is the quiet time of day for exetel, they are paying for X bandwith that is highly under utilised in that time, hence the off-peak, so people will use the bandwith that exetel are already paying for but isn't being used, you can't allow someone to have off-peak in a peak traffic use time, because that simply is not an under utilised time of day.
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Actually I thought I read recently that the peak/off-peak usage patterns have shifted quite substantly over the years that such a user selectable peak period may be feasible; oOnly Exetel could answer. I still think there's diversity of usage these days that it's worth further investigation, and as I said, if too many peaople select a specific start time then the system blocks that period for new requests thereby helping to shift usage whilst still retaining some user choice. What about a 'register you interst' for preferred start time and see what data you get back from customers.
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Nice plans, clean and simple!
A thought though as you change the plans complete structure... I love my current "inclusions" but being a price munger I am on the lowest possible plan for my usage. If in a few months time I find my usage patterns change as IPTV comes online (for want if a crazy example) or something, there is now no current way for me to "climb" the bandwidth ladder in what was my plan existing grouping, I now have to go to a new plan type which is structured complete differently, and possibly loose all my inclusions? Is it possible to leave our old plan GROUP in the portal as well so we can still manage our bandwidth without considering all the other "new" plan changes. Comment (1)
Yes I agree, while John may be right in saying that the new plan's are better than any other ISP, they are not necessarily better than the previous Exetel plans.
The lowest ADSL2 plan has half the downloads and no frills for the same price as the lowest previous plan. My conclusion is that as a result of these changes, John has actually put the price up. As I said a few days ago, I don't get it.... Comment (1)
John, does Exetel support Single Service Transfer? The $0 activation charge is compelling, but if customers of other ISPs can't move from their current ADSL2+ service to Exetel easily and with minimal downtime then it's a major disincentive.
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I transferred my Naked Internode line on Optus infrastructure straight over to Exetel with no downtime
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That would have been because although Internode confuses end users by using Optus DSLAMs fo a large part of its Naked Plans it doesn't name them anything different to the plans based on their own DSLAms.
In your case that would have been an Optus - Optus change of billing entity only (no physical line change at the exchange) which is, as you say, "instant". Comments (6)
Internode's Naked plans on Optus hardware are "Naked" or "NakedUltra" while on their own hardware its "NakedExtreme"- they are named differently.
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SST, as the acronym implies, is for the transfer of SSS ADSL2 services between participating SSS ISPs that choose to participate in the process.
Exetel uses the Optus ULL ADSL2 service for both Telephone line included and 'naked' ADSL services so it can't by definition apply to those plans. AAPT uses SSS for the BYO Telephone line ADSL2 plans but, for reasons unknown to Exetel does not use the SSS facility for transfers from iinet but does for TPG, Internode, AAPT etc. So, no ASDSL2 user of another ISP's service can use the SST process to transfer to Exetel. Comments (6)
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/157336,revealed-iinets-film-copyright-defence.aspx#
Finally the "cat's paw" presents its defence. How is it that an ISP the size of Exetel can implement a policy that complies with the Safe Harbour yet iiNet can't? Malone cries poor mouth, perhaps he should seek funding from Telstra and Optus. Comment (1)
John, hi
i felt i had to comment on this blog even tho i realise it wont be a published comment....and nor is it meant to be. i dont have your email to contact you otherwise or i would have done so for maybe 18 months i have been waiting for some plans that would involve a Telstra line. i wanted to be off the naked Optus infrastructure. i put in a second line to my home nearly 2 years ago with Telstra, specifically to give me CSG that i personally need. i have been waiting for an opportunity to revert back to a plan using that Telstra line and to discontinue having two incoming lines . you have finally created a plan that suits me very well. i was going to put in a request to change plans before the end of the month then Thursday lunchtime i received, from Larryk, a notice of termination of service. i have emailed with him about it as i am more than slightly bemused. i have pointed out to him that if i am an uneconomic customer, as he states, then it was you who kindly agreed to give me a pioneer discount back in Feburary when you and i discussed that i would have joined at a time that should have given me that discount earlier. there has never been an issue with my payments my downloads have never gone over in peak time my off peak download is hardly used ( i realise that this dosnt matter to exetel very much) i have never been rude to staff. i have gone out of my way to thank them actually. i have asked on several occasions about slow speeds and perhaps that has been counted as support time. however i am not alone in that . my termination just seems to have a huge disconnect with what you are saying in your blog yesterday about older customers and the giving of discounts...etc. you say "We will continue to meet the needs of all of our current customers by allowing them to remain on the various 'generations' of plans that they have selected over the years and many tens of thousands of those plans provide services that make Exetel very little, or in some cases no, money at all. So no current customer has been inconvenienced in any way by the sharp change in 'focus' these new ADSL2 plans represent." so why am in chosen for disconnection if i am one of many?? if my speed complaints/inquiries are what are at issue.... then please state this. the irony is that your new plans suit me...... i was going to change over to .NF/22BYO Line.... which i have to assume is costed to give you adequate small profit. someone under the FA name misunderstood ,on Sept 4 ,what i was downloading in the mornings when i complained about extremely slow speed. we were talking sub 512 kps speeds with me only trying to read the SMH online and watch their news videos .......in the main. i have to assume that the comments there also have some bearing on the decision made to terminate me. you will see my belated reply lower down the page http://forum.exetel.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=288&t=32874&start=120 as stated... i find the disconnect between your blog and my termination really quite extreme. Larry has stated that, given the info i gave him re the pioneer discount and my plan to change to a BYO plan , he will look at the decision and get back to me on Tuesday. in writing this i am not attempting to go over his head and dont want it to be seen that way. i am awaiting his decision ....but am so bemused by all this that i have to express this to you as one of the owners of the business and not just to him as compliance manager i generally agree with many of your thoughts and decisions so i wanted to personally make sure that you are aware of this action of dismissal on the day before you wrote your blog entry. maybe you made the decision regarding my connection yourself and are perfectly aware. i have no idea. at no stage do i argue that any business is not entitled to serve, or not serve, those it chooses. however as my late neighbour would say "it doesnt compute" with a dismissal of a long standing customer one day and your particular blog entry the next thanks for your time Comment (1)
Diane,
I have no idea why you were sent a termination advice unless you used the TIO to address some issue in which case the termination would be automatic at the end of any initial contract period as Exetel deems such action by a customer to be a clear signal that the service we provide and the support resolution methods we provide are inadequate for the customer's needs and that the customer should find a provider better able to meet their needs. (the cost of a TIO complaint makes a loss out of providing the service to the customer for around 72 months which we are unable to support - believe it or not, we make around $1.00 per month per customer and that is the basis for our being in business. The only other reason we terminate the supply of services to a customer is if they use abusive language, either in writing or over the telephone, to any of Exetel's support staff and I realise that you are unlikely to have done that. I have 'spoken' to you on several occasions via the Exetel Forum about the various issues that you have had and I have never been able to help you or even begin to see where the problem may exist within Exetel's network or even the supplier's back hauls or the DSLAM to which you are connected. I simply have no idea how to resolve the performance issues you experience and neither does any engineer within Exetel I have discussed it with. I have advised Larry to reverse your termination advice (while his personal name is on the advice letter it is an automated process in terms of TIO complaints) so you do have the option of remaining with Exetel should you wish to do so. Unfortunately it remains the case that neither I, nor any other Exetel employee can address the problems you report though, in the event that you stay with Exetel I will ask the carrier to switch your connection port.....if they won't do that (I don't have much influence with one of our carriers) then perhaps you will have to agree to a service cancellation then re-apply to 'force' the change. Of course simply changing service types will accomplish that as well as will changing providers as well as service types. PS: I edited out your personal details from your comments Comments (6)
I was expecting some deeper price cuts, we know you have plenty margin on those ADSL plans.
I think the smaller cuts tend to take away from the dramatic impact of the cuts. Comment (1)
"we know you have plenty margin on those ADSL plans."
You have a much better knowledge of Exetel's finances than I do then. The margin on those plans averages $1.00 per month and ranges from negative profit to $3.00 a month. Comments (6)
I'm wondering what happened to the Business ADSL2 Plans that included Line Rental?
I run a small Electrical Wholesaler and the Internet isn't mission critical, A non SLA based ADSL2 service is fine for me and Naked DSL plans don't suite me because I prefer PSTN for incoming calls and VoIP for outgoing + I need an active line for the Eftpos. I understand a Business can signup to a residential plan, but I want a tax invoice with my company name on it. Any plans to add Business ADSL2 services via Telstra, Optus, Powertel/iiNet with Line Rental bundled? Comment (1)
Have you looked at tyro.com for an IP-based EFTPOS (no phone line required)?
And porting your landline number to VoIP, NakedADSL2? Comment (1)
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