3G Discount Agreed

[webfact]

3G discount agreed
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- The three main mobile-telephone operators agreed a 15-per-cent discount for all promotional packages of their third-generation cellular service on 2.1 gigahertz.

After many rounds of discussion between the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) and the three 3G-2.1GHz operators, the licence holders will offer a 15-per-cent discount to users.

The three licence holders are Advanced Wireless Network (AWN) of Advanced Info Service, DTAC Network of Total Access Communication, and Real Future of True Corp.

AWN is set to kick off the discount on May 21, followed by Real Future in June. DTAC will start the discount when it officially launches the 3G-2.1GHz cellular service. Yet, the existing customers will receive automatically receive a discount package such as the package of Bt399 will be reduced to Bt340. The price is also being the medium price for setting new prices on 3G-2.1GHz cellular service.


-- The Nation 2013-05-18

[Harper99]

Waaw. good news, thanks for sharing. ;D

[mads]

They agree on a discount?? Is this a "no competition" deal discussed in the open?

Shouldn't each company offer the best discount possible to win as many customers as possible.

[wxpwzrd]

They agree on a discount?? Is this a "no competition" deal discussed in the open?

Shouldn't each company offer the best discount possible to win as many customers as possible.

Sure - government sponsored collusion.

[lomatopo]

They agree on a discount?? Is this a "no competition" deal discussed in the open?

Shouldn't each company offer the best discount possible to win as many customers as possible.

Sure - government sponsored collusion.

Actually Government-mandated. The NBTC imposed this 15% rule as a result of the push-back, from the public, for what was perceived as their less than expected auction results.

FWIW, service providers here publish their plans so it is very easy to match each other on price, and they don't really compete on price, preferring to differentiate their brands with other metrics: marketing, service, support, coverage, loyalty programs, tie-ins, some promotions, bundled hardware and unique combinations of services. For the most part, whether as a concession or auction, their cost bases are roughly equivalent, excluding some finessing that is currently occurring, which isn;t helping that company BTW, they still lose money .

As more and more customers transition to higher ARPUs (as a result of mobile data primarily), and from pre-paid to post-paid, there may be more competition as it is desirable to lock in customers into post-paid contracts for 18 - 24 months: reliable revenue stream, customer retention, higher ARPU.

[Pib]

Wow, I wonder if DTAC will give me a 15% discount on the postpaid B539 (plus 7%VAT) voice and data plan I signed up for just yesterday/18 May when buying my Samsung S4. The plan provides 550 voice minutes and Unlimited 2GB 3G mobile data with speeds up to 42Mb (FUP 384Kb after exceeding the 2GB monthly limit). Unlimited Wifi, and outgoing SMS's are extra at 1 baht/SMS. Link. And this price is guaranteed for 18 months plus I can cancel/change plans after only 3 months if desired. I'm tickled pink with the deal I just got but it was probably linked to the fact I bought the S4 directly from DTAC and the plan may not be available to folks who don't buy specific model phones directly from DTAC; but if I get another 15% plan discount I just may not be able to handle it.

The competition between AIS/DTAC/True and the recent 3G auction where the govt pressured/demanded the 3G carriers for plan discounts seems to be really driving down mobile data prices. But the coming months will determine what "devil-in-the-details" may exist.

[lomatopo]

^ As discussed in the SGS4 thread that plan is normally 999 baht, is discounted as part of a bundled hardware purchase and is not yet part of the 2100 MHz non-concession/auction network.

I think that, once you port our/port in - assuming you do at some point - that DTAC could easily justify, to the NBTC, that you are already receiving a ~ 45% discount. Once your promotion ends, in 18 months, they might discountt hat plan from 999 baht to say 849 baht, representing a 15% discount?

All three service providers have offered discounts in the past on services, and/or even on hardware (slightish discounts on iPhones from TrueMove for example), to customers who make bundled HW and services purchases. The nearly 9,000 baht you might save on your promotion just about off-sets DTAC gross margin on the SGS4, but does keep you as a customer, and one could make a case that they still make a decent margin on the ~ 600 baht per month you pay.

AFAIK, only AIS has published new 2100 MHz post-paid pans which have the ~ 15% discount. TrueMove H may have, I haven't seen any PR on the subject nor examined their website closely. DTAC should/may publish prices when they actually roll-out the 2100 MHz services next month.

[Keesters]

15% discount on WHAT? The 2G prices??? Or some published 3G prices??

[lomatopo]

In theory, a 15% discount would be calculated, for verification by the NBTC were it to get that far, on a per unit basis (minute of voice calling, a single SMS, a Kilo-Byte or Mega-Byte of data), much as they have done in the drive towards the magical 99 satang max., not average, voice pricing rule.

Note that we are talking, at least for the foreseeable future, about post-paid services as these are the first customers that service providers will want to transition. You'd also have to port in to, or become a new customer of one of the 'new' service providers: AWN (AIS), DTAC tri-NET (DTAC) and Real Future (TrueMove). They've had to set up separate subsidiaries, in part to track revenue and separate concession revenue, so it will be easy for the NBTC to audit, and/or the service providers to demonstrate a good-faith effort in attempting to meet the 15% 'rule'.

I think AIS has published new 2100 MHz plans which represent at least a 15% discount. Operators could of course choose an alternate route, such as reflecting the 15% discount on a monthly bill

[Pib]

Although I had previously registered for the DTAC TriNet system which will include their new 2100Mhz, I registered on the DTAC web site when I was on my old plan. But since I changed to the new plan on Sunday I just registered this morning by dialing/using the *3000* method just to ensure I'm registered to get whatever speed or plan discounts which may occur when DTAC activates its 2100Mhz next month. Right after hitting the submit button to do the registration I get a SMS (in Thai) saying "You have registered successfully. Waiting for more information to complete the task. I will let you know later." I have the account setup for English SMSs from DTAC but this registration response arrived in Thai...but Google Translate came to the rescue. Got a bill related SMS from DTAC a few minutes after I got the TriNet SMS and my bill SMS came in English so I guess my account is still setup for English...its just some DTAC SMS are only distributed in Thai. Summary: even with your account setup to use English don't be surprised if your TriNet registration SMS shows up in Thai.

Just as FYI for those non-Thai citizen folks, when doing the registration it requires the 13 digit Thai ID number, however, if you aren't Thai you would have registered with your passport number which probably has fewer than 13 digits. My U.S. passport number only has 9 digits so I first tried the registration just using only those 9 digits...the registration immediately rejected.. So, I retry but this time I put four zeros in front of the 9 digit passport number...now totaling 13 numbers I resubmit and immediately get above successful registration. So, hopefully if there is some human checking done later by DTAC when they compare registration info with my account info they will hopefully be able to figure out the first digits are just filler digits before my passport number. There are several ways to register for DTAC TriNet....see this Link.

[lomatopo]

You have registered your interest in changing over to this new network. You, or DTAC at your request, will have to use the MNP process to port out of DTAC and port in to DTAC tri-NET.

[Keesters]

Although I had previously registered for the DTAC TriNet system which will include their new 2100Mhz, I registered on the DTAC web site when I was on my old plan. But since I changed to the new plan on Sunday I just registered this morning by dialing/using the *3000* method just to ensure I'm registered to get whatever speed or plan discounts which may occur when DTAC activates its 2100Mhz next month. Right after hitting the submit button to do the registration I get a SMS (in Thai) saying "You have registered successfully. Waiting for more information to complete the task. I will let you know later." I have the account setup for English SMSs from DTAC but this registration response arrived in Thai...but Google Translate came to the rescue. Got a bill related SMS from DTAC a few minutes after I got the TriNet SMS and my bill SMS came in English so I guess my account is still setup for English...its just some DTAC SMS are only distributed in Thai. Summary: even with your account setup to use English don't be surprised if your TriNet registration SMS shows up in Thai.

Just as FYI for those non-Thai citizen folks, when doing the registration it requires the 13 digit Thai ID number, however, if you aren't Thai you would have registered with your passport number which probably has fewer than 13 digits. My U.S. passport number only has 9 digits so I first tried the registration just using only those 9 digits...the registration immediately rejected.. So, I retry but this time I put four zeros in front of the 9 digit passport number...now totaling 13 numbers I resubmit and immediately get above successful registration. So, hopefully if there is some human checking done later by DTAC when they compare registration info with my account info they will hopefully be able to figure out the first digits are just filler digits before my passport number. There are several ways to register for DTAC TriNet....see this Link.

DTAC told me not to put in a number if I didn't have a Thai ID... I didn't and I immediately got a Thai SMS with my PP number in it saying "Thanks for registering" or words to that effect. My PP number is registered with DTAC against my phone number.

[Pib]

Although I had previously registered for the DTAC TriNet system which will include their new 2100Mhz, I registered on the DTAC web site when I was on my old plan. But since I changed to the new plan on Sunday I just registered this morning by dialing/using the *3000* method just to ensure I'm registered to get whatever speed or plan discounts which may occur when DTAC activates its 2100Mhz next month. Right after hitting the submit button to do the registration I get a SMS (in Thai) saying "You have registered successfully. Waiting for more information to complete the task. I will let you know later." I have the account setup for English SMSs from DTAC but this registration response arrived in Thai...but Google Translate came to the rescue. Got a bill related SMS from DTAC a few minutes after I got the TriNet SMS and my bill SMS came in English so I guess my account is still setup for English...its just some DTAC SMS are only distributed in Thai. Summary: even with your account setup to use English don't be surprised if your TriNet registration SMS shows up in Thai.

Just as FYI for those non-Thai citizen folks, when doing the registration it requires the 13 digit Thai ID number, however, if you aren't Thai you would have registered with your passport number which probably has fewer than 13 digits. My U.S. passport number only has 9 digits so I first tried the registration just using only those 9 digits...the registration immediately rejected.. So, I retry but this time I put four zeros in front of the 9 digit passport number...now totaling 13 numbers I resubmit and immediately get above successful registration. So, hopefully if there is some human checking done later by DTAC when they compare registration info with my account info they will hopefully be able to figure out the first digits are just filler digits before my passport number. There are several ways to register for DTAC TriNet....see this Link.

DTAC told me not to put in a number if I didn't have a Thai ID... I didn't and I immediately got a Thai SMS with my PP number in it saying "Thanks for registering" or words to that effect. My PP number is registered with DTAC against my phone number.

Yeap, I just tried it "without any passport number and got another SMS saying the exact same thing as the SMS I mentioned in my post above.

For a foreigner the PP number is registered/on file with DTAC and for a Thai their 13 digit ID card is registered/on file with DTAC. Strange the registration process I talked about in my post above rejected when I only entered my 9 digit passport number since it was looking for 13 digits...then I just added front end zero's as fillers to get 13 digits and then the registration worked. However, but submitting with "no numbers/no digits" also worked for me....just like you mentioned.. A person wonders why they even ask for the identification number if the system will also accept a submission with no number.

[Pib]

You have registered your interest in changing over to this new network. You, or DTAC at your request, will have to use the MNP process to port out of DTAC and port in to DTAC tri-NET.

Yea...at least I have raised my hand that "I think" I want to get into their TriNet system...I'll kick back and now wait to see if DTAC contacts me, switches me over, etc.

Edited May 20, 2013 by Pib