[Cialug] Commerical Interruption

[Matthew Nuzum]

On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 2:13 PM, Dave Weis <djweis at internetsolver.com>wrote:

>
> OK, last questions for a while. Regarding the unlimited option, what would
> everyone think of a device with unlimited minutes and texts and 5 gigs of
> data usage, but with tethering to a laptop allowed? The cost would be near
> what the verizon unlimited for phone plan is, around $150 per month.
>
>
There's a reason people buy name brands. I think that if you want to compete
with Verizon you'll have to beat them significantly at something that
matters to enough people. Price is one thing, service is another. Or phone
capabilities or models that they don't offer. Verizon's service may not be
awesome but it does scale well. How many customers can you provide that kind
of super high-quality support for?

I wouldn't pay $150 a month for a cell phone service. I pay less than that
for my 2 phone family plan and I can tether it without hacking my phone.

Since I rarely need to call support the only way you're going to get me is
by beating the price of the other carriers by enough margin to make me
willing to take a risk. Or maybe by offering a very compelling feature I
can't get elsewhere.



> Another thing I was thinking about was allowing you to either pay upfront
> for the phone or pay it per month. Thoughts?


Apple tried the non-subsidized phone approach. They changed it after one
year. I considered t-mobile because they allow this. If you get a
non-subsidized phone you save yourself a certain amount per month. I'd
consider buying a phone on e-bay if it'd save me $20 /mo on my cell phone
service. I suspect few people do the math. Besides, cell phone contracts buy
"loyalty."

-- 
Matthew Nuzum
newz2000 on freenode, skype, linkedin, identi.ca and twitter

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." -Benjamin Franklin
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