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Unlimited Plans

jackrabbit6179

Jul 8, 2009, 9:08 AM
Just a question for those in the industry:

I work for AT&T, and can't help but notice while the major carriers are launching or have launched unlimited plans for $99+ that many of the "little guys" are launching unlimited calling plans for anywhere from $39 to $60.

I'm not opening this thread to be a flame war over who offers better coverage or more features at those price points (the $99 or the $39-$60), but to get some opinions from others who work in the industry:

Do you believe that the major carriers will, at some time in the near future, be modifying prices of their plans to compete with the "little guys", whether through their own choice to remain competitive, or through some form of Dept. of Justice intervention?
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biggene

Jul 8, 2009, 9:54 AM
The little guys have to try to have some sort of competetive advantage. Most of the carriers offering the Unlimited plans for under 99.99 are doing so on there own network. The Metro PCS- Crikcets they solely own their networks.

Boost wich is owned by Sprint and uses their IDEN network is Sprints answer to These other companies. I have been in the industry for 9 years and i dont see any major carrier launching these plans.
Of the top 5, VZW, Att, Tm, sp, alltell only Spint has the simply everything for 99.99 and if other carriers where going to try and match that plan they would have. Sprint has had this plan for almost 2 years. my 2 cents
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Menno

Jul 8, 2009, 11:55 AM
If Verizon, ATT, etc start losing massive amounts of customers to these smaller companies because of the unlimited plans, you might see them rethink their positions. With most of those cheaper unlimited plans though there are some serious drawbacks

Tracfone (45 unlimited)=Poor phone selection, spotty rural coverage, and God help you if you ever need to speak to customer service.

For companies like MetroPCS and Cricket, it's largely an issue of coverage. They offer service in major cities, but not much beyond that. They are a GREAT value if you are in an area where they offer coverage, but if you live outside the cities (or travel out of them a lot) you'll want a plan that offers some sort of nationwide coverage.

And as boneheaded...
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ac4321

Jul 8, 2009, 11:14 PM
$35 is the profitable price point for an unlimited plan if:

1- very little or no handset subsidy

2- very few repeat/problematic customers


Paying for those "cheap" phones is a huge cost. The industry ARPU is still about $50, which means the carrier has a loss until well into the contract, starts to profit for a few months, then throws out another subsidy.

Paying for repeat billing/customer service issues is another huge cost. I think it was Tmobile that estimated it was $8/call. There are customers who will call and complain every week or month about their own usage. There are customers who will try to get payment extensions month after month after month. At the end of the day, many of these customers are loss-leaders at be...
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Tmo Slave

Jul 9, 2009, 11:53 AM
Actually last time I heard it was closer to $17 a call everytime a customer calls Cust Care. Multiply that by a couple million customers and it can get really expensive.
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WorldSoCold

Jul 9, 2009, 11:25 AM
I don't think they will just for the simple fact that you get what you pay for.

If you are paying $40-$60 for unlimited plans, your service isn't going to be top notch.

Whereas when you pay $100 for unlimited you get the best service whether its AT&T or Verizon, plus those companies own the towers they are using service off of.

The companies like "IMMIX" who rent the towers for their customers to use have sh*tty service, tons of dropped calls, and even roaming charges.
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Tmo Slave

Jul 9, 2009, 11:58 AM
T-mobile is the only one of the larger companies that offers an unlimited plan for $50 but you have to have been a profitable customer for 2 years.

I agree with what everyone is saying that yeah the smaller companies offer cheaper "unlimited" plans but at a price. Lower coverage and call quality. They can offer those plans because they have lower overhead. They don't have to build out a network because they piggy back off other carriers and they don't have as many employees. Both result in a lower customer experience.
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eljeffe666

Jul 9, 2009, 12:17 PM
Tmo Slave said:
Both result in a lower customer experience.


that is not always true


back when i worked for suncom which had unlimited plans starting at 49.99 they always had good cs reps. i did not like the corp employees but for customer service most had a clue what they were doing ,unless u were trying to talk to tech support, and i never had a rep that i could not understand

all the big companies i have had dealings with i always talk to some one that took English as a second language and u cant understand what the hell they are saying
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Menno

Jul 9, 2009, 1:08 PM
I can't speak for other companies, but 90% of the time when I call into Customer service/support for verizon the person took english as their first language (with a heavy dose of southern drawl)

And when i was a customer for Voicestream (became Tmobile) their customer service was also easy to understand. but this was years ago, so i don't know how it is now (but judging from their ratings it's still good)
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