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!
No great surprise that a comment this factually incorrect would come from a Vodafone PR spokesman. Who do these people think they are winning over with this kind of…….lets face it BS
Voda PR as a whole is Laughable.
(Paul has made 323 comments)
"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”?"
I couldn't agree more. What an embarrassing PR guff. Clearly this Paul chap has a highly arrogant view of the intelligence (or lack thereof) of prospective iPhone 4 buyers. I for one can safely say that if Telecom come up with a competitive plan, I'll be taking my $100 per month account to them with my new phone. My iPad is already on XT.
(djrichard has made 19 comments)
This is what working in PR has done to Mr. Brislen (blatantly stolen from Juha's blog at Geekzone)
(alikat has made 15 comments)
That's why I buy from apple website, not from vodafone
(tonie has made 26 comments)
Paul should take a drive down the Auckland motorway whilst speaking over his pristine Vodafone network and see how many dropped calls he suffers. Following that he will see text messages detailing returned calls where his phone didn't ring. Lets not even discuss data transfer rates at this time. The Vodafone network is far from reliable Paul.
(Hornet has made 1 comment)
Mr. Paul Brislen have you heard of a saying "A donkey praising it's own tail"
(alopes has made 70 comments)
And I've just read the update …. Xt isn't a gsm network Paul!!!
(matt45 has made 3 comments)
One major reason I bought my iPhone outright and put it on XT is that I can have it on an open plan. There are pretty much *no* open plans with Vodafone – I'd have to be locked into something for at least 12 months. I consider the NZ mobile market to be very volatile right now – so many things could force prices down in the next two years not the least of which is the prospect of regulation.
If I couldn't afford to buy an iPhone outright I'd much rather pay interest on a loan than pay the ridiculous prices for a "subsidised" iPhone from Vodafone.
(ALFA has made 25 comments)
Laughed so hard my sides hurt !
(falcogeorge has made 13 comments)
We probably all know that journalists are notorious for publishing things out of context and distorting the facts, but in this case it's been published as a direct quote! So unless the journalist has done a real dirty by taking things out of context then publishing it as a quote, the words that have been published are the exact words that came out of his mouth. He can attempt to explain it all he wants (and his attempted explanation is pretty pathetic), but what he said is ridiculous.
I agree with the other Vodafone sentiments above too. Using the iPhone and iPad on XT runs rings around Vodafone's network. Paul's stupid comment makes me despise Vodafone even more.
(corksta has made 28 comments)
I had a 3G on vf it was rubbish speed even in Auckland CBD! Switched to XT and awesome. Then when it was time for 3GS I just purchase outright from apple I would never use vf with such a quality handset. I wonder if apple know how slow and overpriced the vf network is?
(sdnz has made 3 comments)
Big call from VF PR machine, however in 2 years we still do not have Visual Voice Mail in NZ. Should be offering a full function network for iPhone before a call like “Nobody else has got a network that Apple trusts enough to run an iPhone on”
Is it more akin to VF having a global deal, and VFNZ rode the coat-tails? Your thoughts?
(MattD has made 61 comments)