The state of competition in the Australian mobile resale market
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Report StructureThis report has five major sections:
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements 5 Executive Summary 6 Report Structure 9 Table of Contents 10 Tables and Figures 11 Introduction 12 Project aims 12 1.The current state of competition in the mobile telecommunications industry with regards to ownership structures, relationships, service offerings, retail presence, and consumer concerns. 12 2.The extent to which the industry includes particular practices that could be perceived as inappropriate and whether further consumer safeguards are warranted. 12 Project rationale 12 Key terms 14 Background 19 The Roles of MNOs, MVNOs & MVNEs 19 The Mobile Network Operator (MNO) 19 The Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) 20 The Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) 20 Mobile markets in Australia 25 The dynamics of mobile network providers in Australia 27 Research Method 30 1.To investigate the current state of competition in the mobile telecommunications industry with regards to ownership structures, relationships, service offerings, retail presence, and consumer concerns. 30 2.To investigate the extent to which the industry includes particular practices that could be perceived as deceptive and whether further consumer safeguards are warranted. 30 Stage 1 – Archival (August 2014 – February 2015) 30 Stage 2 – Focus groups (March 2015 – June 2015) 33 Participants 33 Materials 33 Procedure 34 Stage 3 – Online Survey (June 2015 – July 2015) 34 Materials 34 Participants 35 Stage 4 – Archival (June 2015 – August 2015) 35 Results and Discussion 36 Archival Research 36 Ownership structures 36 TCP Code and Critical Information Summaries 40 Retail presence 56 Service offerings 58 Focus groups 69 Focus group 1 – Tertiary students 69 Focus group 2 – Professional/academic staff 70 Online survey 71 Personal mobile phone service users 71 Mobile phone service provider employees 82 Conclusion and Recommendations 85 Concluding remarks 85 Recommendations 88 Appendix 1 – TCP Code – Rule 4.1.2 Excerpt 93 Appendix 2 - Service Provider Profiles 96 ABLE NET Pty Ltd. 96 ACN 98 Adam Internet 100 ALDImobile 101 AlphaCall 104 amaysim 105 AussieSim 107 Bendigo Bank telco 108 BEST telecom 110 Blink 111 Boost Mobile 113 ClubTelco 114 CMobile 116 Commander 119 Community Telco 120 CoMobile 122 Crazy John’s 123 Cybertel Telecom 125 Dodo 126
engin 129 E.Tel 130 Exetel 132 Globalgig 134 Global Gossip 135 gotalk 136 GT Mobile 138 Hello Mobile 140 IF Telecom 141 iiNet 143 Internode 144 iPrimus 146 iTalkBB 147 Jeenee Mobile 149 Just Mobile 151 KISA 152
Kiss Mobile 154 Lebara 156 Live Connected 158 Living Networks 160 Lycamobile 162 MySaver 164 NetSpeed 166 ONEmobile 168 Optus 170 OwnFone 172 PennyTel 176 Red Bull MOBILE 178 Revolution Telecom 179 Reward Mobile 180 Savvytel 182 SlimTel 184 Southern Phone 185 SpinTel 188 Startel 189 Sure Telecom 191 TelcoGreen 193 TeleChoice 194 Telstra 196 Think Mobile 200 TPG 201 TransACT 203 TravelSIM 205 Trinity Telecom 206 Truphone 207 Ugly BiLL 209 Untimed Mobiles 211 Vaya 212
Virgin Mobile 214 Vodafone 216 vTelecom 223 Westnet 224 Woolworths Connect 226 Yatango 227 Appendix 3 – Focus Group Thought Exercise 229 Appendix 4 – Survey Instrument 231 Tables and FiguresIntroductionProject aimsThe aims for this project are to investigate:
Project rationaleThe relative ease of becoming an MVNO through “turn-key” solutions has resulted in a diverse and dynamic retail market for mobile phone services in Australia. Customers have both benefited and suffered from their rapid expansion. Consumers have, at face value, a broad range of plans and offers to select, from 68 MVNO brands1. However, years of acquisitions and mergers by telecommunications companies has consolidated customers and other assets of value from varying markets e.g. land line, fixed ADSL2+ broadband, mobile, etc. This means that many of the brands offered to consumers are subsidiaries of a common parent company, raising doubts as to the current state of competition in the mobile telecommunications industry. Furthermore, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has observed a slowdown in the rate by which the average price of mobile services is reducing, potentially signalling a weakening of retail price competition.2 This motivates the first aim of this project. The Communications Alliance Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code has seven key commitments to consumers. The first two form the basis of the Customer-Supplier relationship that is fundamental to the other five:
This project is concerned with whether providers are meeting these key commitments, with particular focus on the second commitment. Access to clear, accurate and relevant information to make fair comparisons between options is a core tenet of consumer empowerment. Any action by a provider that limits access to such information, intentionally or unintentionally, is not consistent with the TCP Code. An example of such an action is the use of “included value” when marketing mobile offers, where the customer has to extract important information for decision making from multiple sources which, individually, do not provide adequate means by which to compare value.3 As recommended in an OECD report in 2008, “Regulators should consider requiring that all major operators provide complete, comparable, appropriate and accurate information to consumers…”4 The TCP Code continues to evolve as research is presented and as stakeholders seek clarifications and changes.5 In this respect, “unit pricing” has been the subject of research endeavouring to understand consumer reactions to the way information is presented. For example, a 2011 report recommended to “Simplify terms and conditions and use a single page critical information sheet” and “Develop consumer-friendly trials of unit pricing and conduct further research into how consumers use unit pricing”.6 This was followed in 2014 by a report looking at consumer responses to unit pricing for mobile phone services. It recommended retaining unit pricing, but expressing voice calls in terms of one-minute calls and data prices in terms of gigabytes (or part thereof).7 There is clearly room for further reflection on how standard information is presented in the TCP Code. These concerns motivate the second aim of this project. Directory: files -> Grants files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. Objective files -> Pop Warner History files -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose files -> Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Program Data: Standard 1 Exhibit 4d files -> Hanban – asia society confucius classrooms network 2010 request for proposal files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations Grants -> Call for muii-plus Grants, February 2016: Objectives, Eligibility and Timeline Download 2.41 Mb. Share with your friends:
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