A notable event in NZ telco history is underway today. "2degrees" went live this morning. They are the first new cellular phone provider in NZ since Bell South (now Vodafone) went live in 1993.Their voice and txt pricing looks attractive compared to the Vodafone and Telecom NZ, though the two incumbents effectively reduce their pricing in reality by offering bundles of txts for a flat fee or free phone time to nominated partner phone numbers ('Bestmates' and 'Family'). At 50 cents / MB, they are providing data services, but clearly not as a primary customer winner. At best, this will be useful if your main mobile data provider is offline for any reason.
I should be receiving my free 2degrees SIM with $5 credit in the next few days. It will be interesting to see how 2degrees fair. NZ can be a tough market. Small and somewhat inert ("Why change?").
I wonder if the 2degrees SIM will work in my HTC Magic? I've been with Vodafone as a prepay customer for years. I like Vodafone. But that doesn't mean I won't be a good consumer and help the market function more efficiently through pursuing my own interests. In vendor / customer relationships, loyalty is one-way at best. I learned that a long time ago.
