Over the coming months, per-second billing will become standard in the offers of all mobile operators. One may wonder why, only a few years after this market emerged in Poland, somewhat more customer-friendly billing methods are only slowly beginning to replace the old and expensive tariffs based on counting minute-long pulses. Customers had certainly been expecting such changes for a long time, but either the operators were too greedy or they simply could not afford them.
Customers nevertheless endured the difficult times in the hope that mobile telephony would offer them transparent price lists, reliable calculation of call costs and prices at least somewhat closer to those in Western countries—and now they have finally received at least a few such offers.
The Grabbed Paw
More than three months ago, Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, the operator of the Era network, introduced a package of new services under the mysterious name Heyah. The promotional campaign for the new brand was conducted on a grand scale. The Red Paw appeared in television commercials during prime time. However, the accompanying commentary did more to maintain the air of mystery than to explain anything. Eventually, the offer became available and achieved market success. Per-second billing and a simple price list proved to be a bull's-eye. According to the operator, sales exceeded one million starter packs within three months.
As throughout the country, in Bolesławiec it was difficult to buy a starter pack at the price offered by the producer. In mobile-phone shops and Ruch kiosks alike, prices were 2, 4 or even 10 złoty higher. In addition, outside the sales outlet in the Market Square, it was difficult to find top-up vouchers, especially those worth 20 złoty. The situation now looks fairly normal. Problems buying a starter pack are rare.
Easy to get
PTK Centertel, the operator of the Idea network, spent several months analyzing the prepaid market. Falling sales of its own starter packs accelerated the decision to launch a competing offer to Heyah. A tariff called Dla Każdego was developed, characterized by even greater simplicity. Prices for calls and SMS messages were set within the price range offered by Heyah, except that the distinction between the operator's own network and external networks was abandoned. Per-second billing and a single tariff for both calls and SMS messages are intended to retain users on the network and attract new ones.
The New, the Old Way
In response to competitors' offers, Plus GSM introduced the Simplus Team 2 tariff. Traditional billing was retained, with more expensive services during peak hours and cheaper ones off-peak and on holidays. The new feature is the long-weekend service, with one low rate for calls to all networks, as well as cheaper calls during the holiday period. The service also includes the Swojaki option, meaning cheaper calls to selected numbers, and a single rate for sending domestic SMS messages. Mobile-telephony market analysts nevertheless believe that these changes will not provide the operator with satisfactory financial results and that, if it wants to maintain its market share, it should follow its competitors' example.
Let It Be Eaten
An interesting situation arose in the case of the popular Tak-Tak. When the operator introduced the new Heyah brand, a process known as network cannibalization began. To change service providers, users of phones on the Era network did not have to remove the SIM lock from them. This is hardly surprising, since customers switching from Tak-Tak to Heyah were not actually changing networks at all.
As a result, Era lost customers to— itself. However, the operator does not intend to abandon the Tak-Tak brand. It already plans to introduce an offer in August with prices very close to those offered by the Dla Każdego tariff on the POP network. Per-second billing from the first second will also become standard.
Things Will Improve
Call prices below one złoty per minute, per-second billing from the beginning of a call and an SMS fee of around 20 groszy—these are new, more affordable offers for Polish customers. It is difficult to assess whether this is the effect of competition in a market divided among barely three companies or perhaps the result of unavoidable economic pressure. In European countries, mobile telephony is becoming not only a daily means of communication but also, combined with wireless Internet-access services, is seen as the medium of the future. The telephone handset itself is evolving toward a fully universal computer.
In Poland, a mobile phone is no longer a source of pride. After all, it is difficult to impress anyone by boasting about a cheap number. Nevertheless, use of this technology is still limited to calls and sending SMS messages. Since mobile-network operators have taken a step toward more customer-friendly services, perhaps it is worth arming oneself with patience for the next few years?
Krzysztof Gwizdała