Thursday, June 3. 2010US Carriers Indicate Future Data Pricing.......John Linton .......though the current announcement is a radical turn around. We are gradually moving towards the completion of the new financial plan for FY2011 with the bulk of the work completed with only the various future service pricing to be completed. This article was interesting to me when I read it earlier this morning as it indicates a major change of direction by at least one of the largest US carriers: the key statement being: "The plan will be replaced by new offerings costing $15 an month for 200 I can't remember when the previous unlimited plans were introduced by the various US carriers but I think it was late 2009/early 2010 - so this is a very different analysis of what the markets need and will continue to buy. I have made references to the difficulties that Exetel has faced in offering a viable wireless offering that is attractive to either mobile hand set or PC/Laptop users many times over the past two years and I was quite surprised to see AT&T now charging $US25.00 for 2 gb of data and commenting that is more than 98% of their user's current down loads. It will be interesting to see what the other major carriers do now. Co-incidentally - our wireless broadband users follow the same pattern with 99.5% of customers downloading less than 1.5 gb per month and we charge $A22.50 for 2 gb but our price includes uploads as well - so it appears that there is a great deal of similarity between US and Australian usage patterns. I don't know what to make of the current ADSL market and I have little understanding of how it will continue to move. We do an 'analysis' of our own customer's usage each month and it has been interesting to see how significantly our own usage demographics have changed over the past twelve months let alone over the past six years. Today - Exetel's customer base 'profiles' are very, very different to when we started and even quite different to two years ago. We continue to 'lose' customers who down load large amounts of data and continue to gain customers whose required downloads are very 'modest. Today less than 1% of our ADSL customers download more than 60 gb in 'peak periods' and around 20% of our customers download less than 2 gb per month. It was obviously time for a change in emphasis in what we provide moving forward. With so many changes in the different marketplaces it is becoming more difficult (if that is possible) to run a company of Exetel's size. We have always manged to 'read' the constant changes relatively well and have seldom been 'caught by surprise' over the years. I do think that Telstra will become more of a 'factor' in the residential marketplace than they have been for the last few years and I think that will introduce a completely different set of problems for all sorts of companies that they may not have factored in to their planning. Assuming Labor gets re-elected later this year I also think the 'NBN2' will confuse things even more than they are today. A lot of unknowns including what actually now happens in the Australian economy - which is not remotely as 'rosy' in outlook as our current government would have us believe from what I am seeing and hearing. So, FY2011 is shaping up to be a very different year from past years with more uncertainty, doubt and direction change than in any previous year of Exetel's short existence. Whatever FY2011 brings I think that our planning has been very conservative and any final draft will be more conservative than the current iteration. Copyright © Exetel Pty Ltd 2010 Trackbacks
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Quiet release of Telstra Naked DSL:
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/213744,telstra-to-offer-naked-dsl-broadband-trial.aspx Interesting that they still technically provide a phone line (though you don't pay), so you can still receive calls and also dial emergency. Comments (2)
(Ah take stock of that^.....Bigpond offering around of your old price-point, $3 per Gb.)
(.) "Co-incidentally - our wireless broadband users follow the same pattern with 99.5% of customers downloading less than 1.5 gb per month" I've worked out it bothers me little whether this data is charged $5, or $15, a gb, (innevitably) a month: I'll never buy more of it than '1' gb. Count me under 'numerate' as well. Comments (2)
John
I am intrigued by the use of the new Wireless Offering that you are bundling this week with the Optus ADSL2 plans. Which bit of the "Free Wireless Broadband" is actually free? You are charging for usage - 2 cents/MB You are charging for a modem - $10 or $5/month depending on which one is selected. You are charging for shipping of the SIM and Modem - $25 So as far as I can see it is only free if you dont actually use the service. You have previously citicized other companies who use the word free like this. Has Exetel lowered it's standard. Comments (3)
How about the fact there is no monthly access charge? While the service isn't 100% free as usage is charged... the zero upfront cost of using the service is a nice feature, and a saving of up to $5 a month for people.
So just like people call HSPA WI A the "$5 a month plan" perhaps Exetel can get away with called this new plan the "free plan". Comments (2)
@JL: I wouldn't underestimate the appeal/useful tool (to customers) in allotting to them a "Free monthly '0.1GB'" just to really cement the offer, thereby raising the profile of this 2c/MB budget bundle. 0.1GB would necessitate negligible variable cost (some additional $1?), and cause zero cost (above the 'buried $5'/mth) from some size group of ADSL2 users that might use and value wireless for backup purposes i.e. most months will show just 0.0 usage from them.
Either way, 0.1GB/ 100 FREE MB, presents something perhaps a little more tangible from the company. Comments (2)
The normal plans have a $5 monthly price. That part is waived, but you pay 2c/MB instead of 1.5c/MB.
Comment (1)
So in new Exetel sales speak,
Free = No Minimum Monthly Spend mmmmmmmm Comments (3)
It is actually described as:
"Exetel is offering every new user who signs up to an Optus ADSL2 service a no monthly charge/no minimum monthly use Wireless Broadband service using the Optus national network." Comments (3)
Actually - on the external website it is described as:
"Would you like Free Wireless Broadband as Backup? Click here." A big blue box with bright orange text at the top of the ADSL2 pricing page. http://www.exetel.com.au/a_plan_pricing_adsl2_nf.php (However, I can see that the email that has been sent out to customers today is worded as per your comments here) Comments (2)
I forgot to type my own name into previous post. Was not trying to make it "Anonymous".
Comments (3)
JL,
I see a lot of people criticizing you on Whirlpool and other sites so I understand what you go through since I too get criticized a lot. Some advice to stay profitable: 1. Do things properly and well. 2. Get rid of offpeak altogether to maintain excellent network speed. Internode does this. This allows downloads to be spread evenly through the 24 hours in a day. This method allows you to have whatever customer base you desire and also maintain network speed. 3. The $0.50 per gig is very good pricing. Maintain that if possible. 4. Make sure Exetel has excellent bandwidth all the time so internet is fast. 5. You don't have to get rid of users that clog your network or download too much using the termination notice. This is bad publicity. Just do this, cite, "we are getting rid of offpeak altogether and if you are not happy with this, we release you from your contract without the $100 payment fee. Just cite supply cost issues and to improve the network efficiency and speed for majority of our customers, it has become necessary to implement this. Those excessive users who are costing you an arm and a leg will get rid of themselves from your network. This way you don't get the bad publicity. 6. Make sure you keep yourself and your wife in good health, mind and soul by exercising, eating very moderately, prayer, meditation, good breathing exercises, fasting, church or social activities, charity, etc. Being overweight is not conducive to good health. If you cannot do these on your own, get trainers in their various fields of expertise. 7. You're a good bloke doing good things that affect many, both humans and other species on Earth. 8. Find Good people for your staff. Good people don't necessarily come with qualifications. But they can be trained. They make a Huge difference to your business. Might be expensive to train up but well worth the effort. Ps: I tried to get this fix on your site but your staff has not been able to accomplish this. Dear *******(Exetel developer), (I sent a previous email before this email.) The page is loading. But the story is not there anymore. Read the page. https://www.exetel.com.au/members/protect_australia.php -Click here Helping The Endangered Species Survive Almost three-quarters of Australia's migratory and resident shorebirds have disappeared over the past 25 years: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23515691-421,00.html : Click this link and read this page. The story is not there anymore. It says page not found. *******(Exetel Developer), just change the above link to this http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/birds-decline-as-waters-recede/story-e6frg8gf-1111116020906 Regards, Kelvin Take Care Mr J Linton and Mrs A Linton By the way I think Exetel is Great! Regards, Kelvin Comment (1)
The majority of Exetel's customers use offpeak responsibly and the total removal of offpeak (or the new 'uncounted' period) would in my opinion be a massive blow.
You say that Exetel can easily avoid bad publicity if they remove offpeak? Just look at the reaction to the proposed 6 hour reduction. You really think less people will complain if it is removed altogether? I personally would like to see the uncounted period change to 1am to 9am. A nice round 8 hours, or 1/3 of the day. It would move the 30mins or so spike that people cause at the start of the period away from the 2am peak, and still avoid the highish area of 9am to 12pm. Comments (2)
I think 12:30am to 8:30am "for new plans only" would be better. For people who are trying to get something done just before they leave the house in the morning or have a home office and start a bit before 9am. Ideally you shouldn't have everyone's offpeak starting at the same time as it will likely always surge at that time. I have my scheduled backups / syncs set to start 30 minutes after offpeak begins to try not to be part of this problem.
Having said that, my main request is to please stop changing everything so often. It may be better to charge a bit more, with a bit more profit padding so things don't have to be changed as often. A lot of people don't like change. (Witness Whirlpool forums) Comment (1)
As someone who does use the current 12 hour off-peak period responsibly (
Comment (1)
I will get that link fixed.
Thank you for taking the time to offer such sound advice. Comments (3)
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