Telecom vs. Vodafone: Handsets.
With Telecom boasting "a world class range of handsets", I have to say they don't deliver. Compare their range of handsets to those offered on Vodafone, and you'll instantly see Vodafone is light years ahead in range of handsets. Hell, you don't even need to look past the iPhone to realise it! But then when you look further, you quickly see the HTC Magic and Nokia's N86 and N97. Even Telecom's high-end model phones are available on Vodafone, at a fraction of the price.
The answer to why this is comes down to frequency. Vodafone runs on the most internationally recognisable standard frequency, which therefore means it has a larger range of phones to offer. However, certain phones such as the iPhone run on Telecom's network as well- yet Vodafone has the sole distribution rights. While Telecom tries to get around this problem by offering bonuses to customers who port their iPhones from Vodafone to Telecom, it doesn't change the fact that Telecom says they offer "a world class range of handsets".
A high proportion of people will stay on the same network as they buy their phone on. This means that not only is Telecom losing out in product sales revenue, they are also losing out in service sale revenue. It's a win-win situation for Vodafone, and a lose-lose situation for Telecom.
When Telecom launched the XT Network in June, many people were shocked to discover that their parallel-imported phones didn't work on the XT Network, even though Telecom's website said their model of phone was supported. The answer came down to frequency yet again- that certain phones are double manufactured, for different frequencies. The Nokia N85 for example, offered both on Telecom and Vodafone - Vodafone offers it for $300 less than Telecom, because their model is manufactured in larger quantities. However, people are not told their phones will not work on other networks when they buy their phone. The only way to find out is to know a hell of a lot about mobile frequencies, and to comb through the fine-print of the product specifications until you find whether it supports HSDPA 850Mhz or not (I wouldn't worry about what this means, just that if your phone supports HSDPA 850Mhz, it will work on Telecom's XT Network). Phones that will only work on Vodafone's 3G network will support HSDPA 900.
Telecom had people who had bought brand new high-end phones to use on the XT Network, who were flocking to Vodafone as soon as they realized their phones wouldn't work on XT. I can only imagine how happy Vodafone would have been at this - on top of the rumored payout from Telecom for network interference, they must have been rolling in it for a few months.
So while I would choose Telecom over Vodafone any day in choice of plans, (Read my article on comparing Telecom and Vodafone plans here). I can only thank Apple my iPhone works on the XT Network - if it didn't, I'd be back to Vodafone within an hour. While better plans means saving money in the long run, by having a high-end phone you want to be able to use all it's features. For this reason I think the majority of people are choosing range of handsets over plans.
Michael Moore-Jones @mmoorejones
