Prepay Comparison Table
In the interests of easier comparison of New Zealand’s now three mobile networks, iPhonewzealand user Ahmad has created a table which should allow deciphering of the mobile plans to be easier than the Da Vinci code. The table covers prepaid plans only, which is 2degrees’s main focus at launch, and heavier users of mobile phone may be able to find a better deal going on account.
The cost of each network’s SIM cards is not factored into this comparison as prices for these SIMs vary. 2degrees are offering essentially free SIMs at $2 or $20 with those respective amounts preloaded, with a “porting number” bonus of $5 if you are coming over from another network. XT “charges” $30 for their SIMs but this comes with up to $20 credit. And Vodafone has kept the $30 SIM card cost the same, but have recently started running promotions which offer over $30 value in various packages.
As you will see, there are 2 columns each for XT and 2degrees. This is to allow for fairer comparison of the true ongoing running costs of a prepaid mobile on each of our 3 networks. While the published rates for XT appear at first glance almost identical to Vodafone Supa Prepay, the bonus credit applied for every XT topup means the effective rate is significantly less. 2degrees offers “Magic” topups which gives you 100 free TXTs and discounted calls to landlines and other 2degrees mobiles with every $20 topup. However these free TXTs and discounted calling rates only apply for 30 days. Customers topping up at least $20 every 30 days, and who will use their full free TXT allocation should refer to the “2degrees Magic” column to see their true pricing. Customers that will not meet this requirement should look at the “2degrees” column, but note that some prices (as indicated) will actually be lower due to the discounted rates that will apply for 30 days from the last topup.
Some 2degrees details are not yet released but the table will be updated when further information is available.
Thanks to Ahmad for providing the table
Can you explain the maths behind some of the 2 Degrees Magic numbers? Specifically the 30c/15c calling rates and the 35c/MB data rates.
Cheers, Nigel
(nigel.ramsay has made 3 comments)
Hi Nigel, here are the maths, and I would appreciate feedback if they use incorrect assumptions.
SMS costs 9c, but you receive $9 worth of SMS with a $20 topup.
Presuming that a heavy “Magic” user is always using up their free TXT allocation, then they effectively get $29 worth of usage out of every $20 topup.
Which means that they are getting a 31% discount overall.
I chose to “average out” the 100 free TXTs in the interests of easier comparison. Basically it averages out that free allocation across all usage, which is how the 30c/15c “effective calling rate” comes about”.
But it does really rely on a heavy user using up all their SMS and topping up at least every 30 days.
I think it’s fair to include the free text allocation in the “per text” pricing, but probably not in the calls/data pricing.
My suggestion, pick a “expected number of texts per month” figure and then use that for the “per text” calculation. Perhaps 200 / month?
(nigel.ramsay has made 3 comments)
nigel – this is simply a way of averaging out that free TXT allocation to allow a fair comparison for calls and TXTs against the other networks. Instead of saying “free txts, calls for 44c”, it averages out the free usage across however the $20 is used.
Remember this is simply for the purpose of comparison of the “real cost” of each component across networks.
PXT are showing as 50 cents for Vodafone
PXT for Vodafone to Vodafone and to Email are 20 cents. Please correct your chart.
(Johnny11 has made 14 comments)
If that is correct then Vodafone’s site is incorrect. Those charges were taken from:
http://www.vodafone.co.nz/services/txt-and-pxt/pxt.jsp
Which still shows 50c for PXTs “To a Vodafone NZ mobile” or “To another NZ network”.
You need to look at that link again – it’s 50cents for Overseas PXT – PXT cost 20c in New Zealand.
(Johnny11 has made 14 comments)
Yeah sorry, it’s a bad table and I’ve been looking at too many today! Fixed and admin will update.
Very handy comparison Ahmad, nice one
(scrambler has made 1 comment)
Great chart Ahmed. You may wish to update it now that Voicemail pricing etc has been announced. Cheers
(tohe has made 1 comment)
Thanks for the feedback. Tohe the chart should already be fully up to date now with that other pricing? Try a refresh.
User asked: “ahmad – on your table / chart you created, it says you can get 600 txts for $9.60. Does that mean the 600 texts expire at the end of the month, or last until you have sent 600 texts total?”
The TXT600 add-on applies for a calendar month (on prepay) or billing cycle month (on account).
Unused TXTs do not carry over to the following month so you “use them or lose them” and then pay another $12 ($9.60 after topup bonus discount) the following month.
Ahmad, probably a little known secret on XT… you can sign up for the bigger 0.5GB, 1GB, 2GB, and 3GB data plans on prepay as well – you may want to update the chart to be definitive. I’m posting this from my iPhone tethered laptop parked next to a river in the middle of nowhere on the 2GB plan ($52.50/month).
(dangermouse has made 7 comments)
I was aware you could get 500Mb but not that you could get higher. The table is already a little cramped as it is so probably this is best achieved in a footnote
I am a little occupied right now but thanks for that!
@dangermouse – we at iPhonewzealand are honoured that you would be visiting our site whilst in your car, parked next to a river in the middle of nowhere. That’s dedication!
(Steve has made 282 comments)
Thanks Steve. Actually it’s not all that dedicated, it’s my 4wd campervan – my broadband is Telecom, my power company is that solar panel on the roof. I’ve been impressed with the amount of spots I’ve been ablet to get XT 3g coverage… Way off road, not bad.
Nice site, thanks for the news and tips.
(dangermouse has made 7 comments)
i have made my own little comparison table. i think its pretty good and makes things clear. i have only included txt, voice and data rates. the 3 most important things to me. i have left out all the obvious thing like txt ‘add-on’s’ run out at the end of the month if you have used them or not etc… i just dont know how to upload it. i have it in jpg, pdf and xlsx.
(Dejh0n has made 1 comment)