Kiwis on a losing streak with mobile contracts

New Zealanders on a losing streak when it comes to mobile phone contracts

Research shows more than 80 percent of New Zealanders on a monthly plan have lost unused minutes they paid for in the past six months

New research shows that most New Zealand mobile phone users signed up to monthly plans are not receiving the full value of what they pay for.

Commissioned by 2degrees, the research shows that 81 percent of people on a monthly contract that paid their own bill had not used all of the minutes included with their plan at some stage over the past six months. Only 12 percent of those on a contract had managed to use all of their monthly plan's included calling minutes, leaving seven percent with no clue how many minutes they used.

According to 2degrees Chief Marketing Officer, Larrie Moore, the 'lost minute' phenomenon is more obvious when the monthly bill is freshest in the minds of those surveyed, with 70 percent certain they hadn't used all of their plan's included minutes in the last month.

"Mobile phone contracts are quite unique because consumers are asked to guess how much they'll use up front, commit to a monthly charge and then have what they've paid for, but not used, taken away.

"Consumers pay in good faith for a certain amount of usage, and we think they deserve a better deal."

Starting tomorrow, 2degrees will offer a Pay Monthly plan that allows users to keep (or 'carryover') their unused minutes every month for up to 12 months.
This innovative 'Pay Monthly' plan is the first of its kind in New Zealand, and offers flexibility found in only a few other developed markets like the United States.

For $39.00 per month, 2degrees customers will get 120 minutes of calling time and 600 texts to any phone network in New Zealand. 2degrees' Pay Monthly plan also operates on a one-month basis, so customers are not locked into long-term contracts.

"We're offering a monthly plan on simple terms. You get more value for your dollar and keep what you've paid for; any unused minutes are carried over each month for a whole year. You pay less, and get more calling time to anyone in New Zealand, without getting locked in.

"Even if you do use all of the included minutes, you don't have to worry about high out-of-plan rates, because 2degrees has a low calling rate of 44c per minute to any network," said Larrie.

In addition, customers who sign up to 2degrees Pay Monthly before 31 October 2010 will get an extra 100 talk minutes to anyone in New Zealand every month for a year.

About the survey: Phoenix Research conducted an online survey of 510 New Zealanders aged 18 years and older from 27 August to 1 September, 2010. To participate, respondents must own a post-paid mobile phone and pay the bill themselves. The sample was weighted to be representative of the age and gender profile of post-paid self-pay mobile users.

The latest data available from work undertaken by Kudos Research showed approximately 660,000 New Zealanders own at least one mobile phone on a post-pay account and pay the bill themselves.

The Phoenix and Kudos research have both been sponsored by 2degrees.
All calls are charged by the minute, with part minutes rounded up to the next full minute.

ENDS

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