Will you be switching?
Remember when you used to pay around $30 a month for your phone bill? Nowadays it might be more like $100? Most of us would probably like to see our bills decrease, but until now it hasn’t seemed like that would ever be likely.
Now, News.Com.Au is reporting that new competition could soon be coming into the market to force the big telcos to lower their prices. It seems as though TPG will begin offering mobile phone services, which should see companies such as Telstra, Optus and Vodaphone drop their prices.
The publication reports that if you pay $100 for a Telstra mobile plan, $60 of that is the cost of supplying the service.
Despite the huge profits Telstra has been making, their numbers have been falling with the Telstra CEO blaming competition in the market for their shrinking profits.
“We’re seeing increased competition which is having an impact on margins… We’re responding to the competitive pressures. We’re putting more data, more value, more entertainment, more services into our plans.”
Telstra, Optus and Vodaphone have their own mobile network and they lease those networks to other companies such as Amysim, Kogan Mobile and many more.
Now, TPG is building their own network with some installations in Melbourne and Sydney already begun and it’ll likely mean that when they’re set up prices will drop due to competition.
TPG Chief Operating Officer Craig Levy told the publication they’re going to provide low prices:
“We are going to be very aggressive… We are aiming at the price sensitive part of the market.”
Optus and Vodaphone spokespeople said they welcomed the competition.
It’s unlikely TPG will cover rural and regional Australia, instead, targeting city markets. However, when they first launch they will not be covering the whole country.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission also told News.Com.Au the competition will benefit consumers.
The timing of TPG’s new network is also very clever as many people will be looking to switch to the NBN in the coming years and will be more likely to switch providers – especially if TPG can bundle mobile and home Internet.
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Image: Emilija Manevska/Getty
Written by Marni Dixit
