22nd December 2009
THE COSTLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SECONDS AND MINUTES
Sure has raised concerns that recent Airtel
Vodafone advertising is misleading Pay As You Go customers.
Following the launch of Sure’s new price plans
in October, Airtel has been running advertising that compares the
cost of calls between Sure, Wave Telecom and Airtel-Vodafone.
Sure is concerned that Airtel-Vodafone is not
making it clear that it charges per minute compared to Sure who
charge by the second when connected to the local network.*
“On the face of it, Airtel Vodafone is cheaper
but what customers won’t realise is that for all calls they make
with Airtel Vodafone they will be charged by the minute compared to
Sure who charge by the second for all local calls. It might only be
a small difference if you take one call in isolation but over time,
it could be considerable,” said Sure’s Marketing Director Paul
Taylor.
“Pay Monthly customers might mostly use calling
minutes within an inclusive bundle, but for Pay As You Go customers
extra seconds means your credit runs out sooner.”
Mr Taylor said that a 30 second local call to a
Sure mobile would cost a Sure customer five pence. Sure’s per
minute charge is 10 pence, but local calls are charged by the
second. The same 30 second call would cost an Airtel-Vodafone
customer on the Islander tariff eight pence. Whilst the Airtel
Islander tariff charges eight pence per minute to any mobile or
landline in Guernsey, customers must pay that charge for any call
up to a minute as well; so a 30 second call would cost 8 pence and
a call lasting one minute and one second would cost 16 pence as it
goes into the second minute.
“Many people use their mobiles for making lots
of very short calls, from phoning home to say you’re on the way or
letting a friend know that you’re running late. Most of these calls
last no more than 30 seconds. With Sure you’ll only pay for what
you use, which we feel is an honest and straightforward way to deal
with our customers,” said Mr Taylor.
*Per-second billing does not apply for Sure
customers when roaming: there is 60 second minimum charge and calls
are charged in 30 second increments thereafter.