pricing
2016 review of broadband pricing
This is my ninth annual review of the retail broadband market in Australia. There are some striking changes since last year and this year we compare our market with New Zealand.
The big change this year is the hike in NBN charges. Last year, the cheapest NBN 25/5 plan was TPG with $50 (for 5 GB pm) and this year the cheapest is TPG at $70 (and unlimited data). While Bigpond’s ADSL2+ pricing did not change in the last year, its NBN 25/5 plans all went up by $10. They went up by $20 for Optus (with unlimited data).
To see the 2 page column go to economuse-2016-09-19
What’s the smart way to buy a smartphone?
This week saw the second anniversary of the launch of the iPhone 6 – many buyers of that phone are coming off their two year contracts now. Before they go on to another postpaid contract to acquire the iPhone 7 on sale tomorrow, they should consider their options carefully. In my view, buying the phone yourself and adding a SIM card is the best way to go for the canny buyer.
Read the column at economuse-2016-09-15
Slides on buying a smartphone
This is paid research on buying smartphones – iphone-7-study
Will NZ get it right?
New Zealand is moving towards “utility style” regulation for ultra-fast broadband (UFB) copper and fibre networks. Its main focus is on the application of price–quality regulation based on the ‘building blocks’ model (BBM).
The BBM is just one step towards the utility style regulation. New Zealand has the opportunity to also adopt utility style wholesale pricing which addresses its concerns about affordable anchor products while also encouraging adoption and use of broadband networks.
For more, see Economuse 2016-08-29
All submissions at http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/sectors-industries/technology-communications/communications/regulating-the-telecommunications-sector/review-of-the-telecommunications-act-2001/submissions-received-options-paper
Submission to NZ regulatory review
The Ministry of Business Innovation and employment NZ is moving to the building block method (BBM) adopted by the ACCC some years ago.There are several ultra-fast broadband providers in NZ and one of them also has a copper network with no decommissioning deadline. The Ministry is seeking views on how this wholesale sector should be regulated from 2020.
My submission suggests that the BBM is just one step towards the utility style regulation that it wants. NZ has the opportunity to also adopt utility style wholesale pricing which addresses its concerns about anchor products, encourages adoption and use of broadband networks while avoiding the mistakes made by Canada and Australia.
The submission can be accessed here: NZ-2016