Vodafone: Trust Issues
In a Computerworld article published yesterday confirming the New Zealand release of the iPhone 4, Vodafone spokesman Paul Brislen took a pretty cheap swipe at the competition with a quote that will no doubt raise a few eyebrows: “Nobody else has got a network that Apple trusts enough to run an iPhone on.”
Paul, Paul, Paul. Look, we understand why being the only official iPhone carrier in the country might make you feel a little smug, but let’s put some perspective on the issue. We seriously doubt that your non-exclusive defacto arrangement is anything to do with trust, and we’re sure you know as well as we do that this is down to volumes, not touchy-feely nonsense. Vodafone, one of the world’s largest telcos with the ability to leverage off of worldwide distribution deals and supply chains, are far better positioned to be able to meet the kind of minimum-unit orders that Apple would no doubt demand than any of the other local players here in New Zealand.
And another thing: if Apple simply doesn’t trust its baby with any other carrier, why doesn’t it lock them to Vodafone? Furthermore, why does Apple openly encourage visitors to their New Zealand website to buy an iPhone from them and “sign up for service with the carrier of your choice and change your carrier at any time”?
Clearly Paul’s comments are a broadside reference to Telecom’s long-since-fixed XT woes and while we know that Vodafone have had so much fun using those issues to its advantage, that horse is well and truly flogged and would-be iPhone 4 owners know they have the pick of three equally capable networks: the onus is now on Vodafone to come up with a compelling reason for users to feel that sense of trust.
We’ve got nothing against Vodafone and we have no doubt that the iPhone 4 with its 900MHz capability will run very nicely on their network, but we can’t stand misplaced and ill-deserved smugness.
UPDATE 4:21pm: Paul Brislen has been in touch with us as he feels this comment has been taken out of context and has offered the following further comment in response.
Hi there,
From memory, Sarah at Computerworld asked me why I think Vodafone is the only telco in New Zealand selling the iPhone. I told her we don’t have an exclusive deal with Apple (and we don’t) and she wondered why Telecom (with a similar market share) doesn’t have it.
My view (and it’s my personal view) is that Apple treats its iPhone customers as Apple customers. When you buy an iPhone you’re an Apple customer using Vodafone’s network, not a Vodafone customer using an iPhone.
Telecom’s XT network is brand new, they had no track record in GSM and couldn’t show Apple that their network was stable. When the XT issues happened that will have knocked them back even further.
That’s my view – based on observation, not insider information.
Paul Brislen
Vodafone Head of Corporate Communications
PS – in case you’re wondering about the photo, we’ve been reminded that we don’t own the copyright on that image, so we’ve removed it for now. Fair call.
What do you think of Paul’s comment? Perhaps you agree and think Apple really shouldn’t trust Vodafone’s competitors? Or perhaps you disagree and wish that your carrier-of-choice could sell you a subsidised iPhone 4? Get on the comments!
i would doubt that apple even know about telecoms issues
(Joe Bunting has made 69 comments)
Bit like Steve Jobs saying other smartphones have antenna issues…
(FatCatMatt has made 10 comments)
Why don’t start with the unlimited data plan first and see if vodafone can handle the network traffic?
(pacharawit has made 45 comments)
I think Paul needs to calm down and stop smelling the herbal highs. Like you say it is more than likely because of the number of iPhones vodafone corp worldwide order compared to the 2000-8000 that XT/Telecom would order.
(thefatmould has made 32 comments)
Crank up the rez and you can almost read the top secret document on the wall behind him… South Beach Diet schedule?
(dckiwi has made 9 comments)
From what I hear about the AT&T network, if network efficacy and reliability were a deciding factor, iPhones in the US wouldn’t be locked to that provider.
(ALFA has made 25 comments)
If Paul said “if Apple simply doesn’t trust its baby with any other carrier, why doesn’t it lock them to Vodafone?” then he really is being disingenuous. The answer is because it is illegal in New Zealand to do so.
(B.Hanson has made 15 comments)
It’s those comments that made me take my phone accounts elsewhere from vodafone. Pretty standard from his type at a corporate level!!
(shanewild has made 1 comment)
Yep, super arrogant by Voda.
I used to say “Vodafone is the new Telecom” in refernce to the fact that Telecom USED to be hard to do business with, and they were arrogant about “we are it”, but now it’s Vodafone.
Vodafone we fine to deal with when they were #2, now they are the (arguable) market leader they are cocky, arrogant and don’t seam to care about their customers. As a customer of 11+ years I finally canceled by 021 last year, and despite the XT issues (and I live in ChCh!) I don’t regret it one bit. XT rocks for the iPhone and iPad!
Richard
(Richard has made 50 comments)
10 years ago (give or take) telecom brought out $10 txt, they have won the youth market ever since then as they still have it even tho $12 on xt. That youth market is growing up and is going to stick with telecom as they are the more cheaper and unrestricted mobile provider and vodafone has never done anythink for young people who are going to be the buisness costomers one day and probaly chose to stick with the network that made mobiles afordable for them
(deFusion has made 12 comments)
I’ve been on XT since getting my iPhone and I live in Chch, so was affected by the outage. I feel that I was very fairly compensated for the outages and other than that, have only ever experienced *one* dropped call. If only my home Wifi were that reliable…
(ALFA has made 25 comments)
This is an ironic comment given that most of vodafones sites do or will soon be connected via the telecom network for transmission back to vodafones switching centers.
(matt45 has made 3 comments)
I will always use the iPhone on XT. If vodafone got exclusive rights to lock the phone (which is unlikely based on current laws in NZ) I would do whatever I could to still use it on XT! As stated in the post and ALFAs comments above, we have been fairly compensated for XTs outages, and they were 6 months ago, so are “long-since-fixed woes”.
(Allan has made 42 comments)
I dunno what this fuss is all about, we should at least appreciate that we’re not locked to one network choice when we buy an iPhone. People say things that do tend to be taken out of context and blown out of proportion…
For all you know, that conversation could have been just a casual chit chat that Paul had over lunch with whoever that person that was with him is… or just something he said while trying out FaceTime for the first time on his new iPhone 4? hehe
(Yaman_NZ has made 184 comments)
The update is WEAK.
Matt is spot on, XT isnt GSM.
And his initial comment that’s quoted isnt about voda/apple its about TRUST, and that Apple TRUST Voda and not anyone else in NZ. Rubbish.
How about “Sorry .. shouldn’t have said that … “
(Richard has made 50 comments)
Now Paul and Vodafone has a trust relationship also, just like iphone and vodafone according to them
(tonie has made 26 comments)
I’m not a huge Vodafone fan like I used to be before they started charging for a customer service that isn’t even based in NZ and more than half the time the person who answers the call doesn’t know what you’re talking about and gives wrong information based on Vodafone in Egypt lol… but I am also not a fan of people taking thingss out of context or moaning about things that are not worth moaning about… just be happy we have the choice of network
Hey, we even have tethering, something they don’t even have with the iPhone in the USA!…
(Yaman_NZ has made 184 comments)
Well done Paul…just made the hole even bigger haha. It has nothing to do with the network outages on XT as they were well an truley over (or hadnt even occurred) when they negotiated the non exclusive deal, plus the 3G and 3GS Iphone doesnt even support the 900mhz range that the majority of the Vodafone Network uses. Its entirely to do with the fact the Vodafone Global can back them up to buy the “x amount” of stock a carrier needs. Pure and simple. Apple didnt “choose” Vodafone NZ..it was the only carrier they had to carry the Iphone when it came out. Paul can romanticize the relationship all he likes, but the only thing he got right was that we are Apple customers forced into using Vodafone as the official carrier but choose to use XT. Vodafone NZ has the worst Iphone plans in the World..I would back that up with the worst Ipad plas as well but they are yet to announce those. If Telecom could buy the required amount of iPhones upfront it goes without saying that Apple and XT are the true marriage made in heaven (full nationwide network support for all iProducts, better data speeds and pricing)
(camtab has made 464 comments)
I have run my iPhone on Voda and XT. There is no question about it, data transfer speeds on XT blows Voda away, hands down. I’m sure Apple would approve.
(Chris Kinnell has made 37 comments)
Oh dear lord where to start..haha…will just go with an agreement of Steves comments and that Vodafone have a LOOOOONG way to go before trust should be used in the same sentence. Heres an idea Mr Brislen, helps us buy into your wee fantasy world there by announcing Ipad Plans (not announcing the announcement that there will be an announcement) and Iphone 4 pricing. I trust you can manage that..before the products go on sale…too much to ask??
(camtab has made 464 comments)