DiGi Wins Most Top Value Awards

In the most recent Tarifica Score™ rankings of consumer value, DiGi, Malaysia’s third largest mobile operator, was awarded the top honors for offering the best consumer value on mobile plans.

Tarifica Scores are based on an algorithm that ranks mobile plans by their consumer value. “Top Value Plan” awards are issued to the highest scoring plan in each of 10 price-based market segments. Additionally, the best overall ‘with phone’ and SIM-only plans are recognized as the “Top Values in Country.”

Digi defeated its larger rivals earning the “Top Value in Country” award for ‘with phone’ plans and winning an impressive eight of 10 “Top Value Plan” awards. Digi’s plans simply include greater volumes of minutes, SMS and particularly data than similarly priced plans from competing operators. Further many of its plans include features like bundled iDiGi apps that provide substantial benefits to many consumers.

While not performing as well as Digi, Celcom still had a solid showing, earning the “Top Value in Country” award for SIM-only plans and two “Top Value Plan” awards. Although Celcom did not have winning plans at as many price points as Digi, its highest scoring plans – the First Prime 128 and First with Max Up All 135 – were among the best plans in the market. The high consumer value of these plans was driven by their large included data volumes, coupled with Celcom’s average download speeds which are the fastest in Malaysia.

Compared with its smaller rivals, plans from Malaysia’s largest mobile operator, Maxis, simply did not offer competitive consumer value. The operator did not win any “Top Value Plan” awards — meaning at every price point there are plans available from other operators that provide consumers with better value. “Maxis’ plans tend to include significantly less data than similarly priced plans from DiGi and Celcom. Moreover, Maxis offers fewer value added features and promotions than its competitors.

The Tarifica Score is an algorithm that quantifies and ranks postpaid mobile plans by their consumer value. It weighs a plan’s included services (minutes, SMS, data, etc.) against its costs and the operator’s network strength. Scores range from 0 to 100. The Tarifica Score has been used to evaluate and rank mobile plans around the world.

“In today’s mobile marketplace, consumers are flooded with hundreds of plan variations and constantly shifting promotions and deals — the majority of which come with different costs and services, and access networks of differing strengths.  Consumers can use Tarifica Scores to help cut through the clutter and identify those plans in every market segment that offer the best value for the money,” Tarifica Program Manager, Will Watts.

Tarifica has been the leading provider of telecom pricing information for close to four decades. It maintains the most robust, in-depth and up-to-date pricing database in the industry, which includes mobile and fixed line rates from over 400 operators in 85 countries, as well as historical data going back to 1997. Tarifica also produces reports, surveys, publications and custom analyses. Its clients include operators, regulators, enterprises and consultants in every region of the globe. 

To contact an analyst at Tarifica, click here.

       

T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless Lead US Carriers in Consumer Value

Tarifica has announced the latest Tarifica Score™ measure of consumer value for postpaid mobile plans in the United States. Tarifica applies its “Top Value Plan” designation to the highest scoring plan in each of 20 market segments which consist of four types of plans: individual/family and with/without phone.

T-Mobile had three of the four highest scoring plans in the market. “The only strike against T-Mobile is its relatively weak coverage but this was more than offset by its many strengths such as aggressive pricing, discounted line fees for multiple users, relatively fast download speeds, generous data allotments and bonus inclusions such as data stash, unlimited streaming music and free roaming,” said Tarifica analyst Jamie Davella. T-Mobile would have likely won more than five price segments but it did not have plans in many of the higher priced categories.

Although Verizon Wireless’ top plans did not rank as highly as T-Mobile’s, the carrier’s offers were impressive, receiving nine Top Value Plan designations, including 70% of the designations for individual plans. “Verizon offers high customer value plans across the vast majority of price points. Verizon’s success was driven by the strength of its network. The carrier’s reliable coverage and fast average download speeds were enough to more than outweigh its relatively high prices,” continued Davella.

AT&T ranked third with four Top Value Plan designations. The carrier struggled to compete against the aggressive pricing of Sprint and T-Mobile in the lower cost segments and was slightly behind Verizon on coverage and download speed which hurt its higher end plans. Sprint finished last, winning only two Top Value Plan designations as it had the lowest ratings for both download speed and network coverage. These limitations were too much to overcome for even some of its most aggressively priced plans.

The Tarifica Score is an advanced algorithm used to evaluate mobile plans based on the value they offer consumers. It incorporates every aspect of each mobile plan (including usage allotments, geographic coverage, data speeds and additional features) and weighs them against each plan’s total costs to determine its relative consumer value.

“In today’s mobile marketplace, consumers are flooded with hundreds of plan variations and constantly shifting promotions and deals—the majority of which come with different costs and services, and access networks of differing strengths. Operators can use Tarifica Scores to help consumers cut through the clutter and identify those plans in every market segment that offer the best value for the money,” stated Tarifica Program Manager, Will Watts.

Tarifica Scores were calculated for all the published plans offered by Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. ‘With phone’ plans were scored with the iPhone 6. Scoring is based on the total cost of service and device, incorporating all upfront and recurring charges. Shared plan scores were based on four users per plan.

For more information, please visit www.tarifica.com

       

       

       

T-Mobile Poland Offers Free 12 GB of Data with Mix Plan

T-Mobile Poland has launched a campaign that offers up to 12 GB of data at no additional cost to new customers who sign up with any of the operator’s Mix plans. The additional data will be valid for one year. Also, new customers and those extending their subscription contracts will receive a free monthly package of 100 SMS/MMS for the first six months or for the whole contract term, depending on the plan selected. The new offer is available both to consumer and to business subscribers.

The mobile market in Poland has very high penetration levels and is dominated by four mobile operators. As we have reported previously, mobile operators that provide services in developed and emerging markets alike are concentrating more and more on expanding the overall value of their plans by adding additional services or unique content to existing packages at no additional cost. Offers that include popular content such as music streaming services, entertainment, sport, unlimited access to social media outlets, as well as a significant amount of mobile data are highly popular among subscribers and thus constitute a good source of revenue. T-Mobile’s new offer provides a very generous amount of free data that can be used over a 12-month period, so that subscribers can take advantage of it throughout the duration of their contracts. We believe that this new campaign will not only attract new customers but will also promote T-Mobile’s 4G LTE network and have a positive impact on the operator’s position on the market.

 

Our recent findings using the Tarifica Score™—the leading measure of consumer value for mobile plans—confirm that additional amounts of mobile data tremendously increase the overall value of a plan. The Tarifica Score™ also highly rates content services such as access to Netflix, Deezer, Spotify or any social media platform. These value-added services are known to become popular on the market quickly and generate a good amount of revenue. Operators should focus on their market needs and include offers based on those preferences.

Edyta Krzton, Senior Analyst at Tarfiica

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues or to speak with the research team: http://www.tarifica.com/contactus.aspx

SingTel Scores the Worst at Providing Consumer Value

Singapore’s largest mobile operator SingTel, consistently provides less consumer value compared with rivals StarHub and M1, according to the latest all-inclusive Tarifica Score™ study of the country's postpaid mobile plans. The Tarifica Score™ involves a comprehensive algorithm that weighs every feature of a mobile plan including usage allotments, geographic coverage, data speeds, value added features and promotional elements against its total costs and then determines its precise consumer value relative to all other offers in the country. Scores range from 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

Singapore's plans were divided into two categories, “With Phone” and “SIM Only”, and then divided into four price segments, creating a total of eight groupings. M1’s plans led the field, winning best consumer value in four groups. StarHub followed close behind, winning best consumer value in three, while SingTel was able to capture just one win. SingTel plans ranked last in six of the eight groups.

“SingTel’s plans consistently come with fewer minutes, SMS and MBs of data than comparably priced plans from StarHub and M1,” stated Susan Cray, Tarifica’s Singapore Analyst. “Moreover, SingTel’s plans did not include some of the additional value features like international calling or roaming that the other operators provided at no additional charge. In short, regardless of their budget or needs, we would advise mobile consumers to avoid SingTel’s plans, as there is almost always a better option available.”

A unique feature of Singapore’s mobile market is the degree and specificity of plan segmentation. A large number of plans from each operator are targeted to particular groups such as individuals with disabilities, military personnel, students/youths and senior citizens. “The Tarifica Score™ demonstrates clearly that these tailored plans almost always offer substantially more value than the general plans available to the public, regardless of the operator, with scores often running 30 to 40 percent higher” stated Cray.

“In today’s mobile marketplace, consumers are flooded with hundreds of plan variations, constantly shifting promotions and deals—the majority of which come with different costs, services and access networks of differing strengths. When making a decision that will likely impact consumers for up to two years, the Tarifica Score™ can be used to cut through the clutter and identify those plans in every market segment that offer the best value for the money,” Tarifica Program Manager, Will Watts.

To Contact Tarifica's Research Team:   http://www.tarifica.com/contactus.aspx

Telefonica O2 and T-Mobile Offer the Top Value Mobile Plans in Germany

New York, 30 October 2014 — Tarifica has announced the launch of the Tarifica Score consumer value rankings for postpaid mobile plans in Germany.

The Tarifica Score™ is a proprietary algorithm that ranks every available mobile plan based on the value they offer consumers. It incorporates all aspects of each mobile plan (including usage allotments, geographic coverage, data speeds, value added features and promotional elements) and weighs them against the plan’s total costs to determine its consumer value. Scores range from 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

“Telefonica O2 and T-Mobile are very competitive in terms of providing consumer value. Across the majority of market segments, these operators’ plans rank very close to each other,” said Edyta Krzton, Tarifica’s Germany Analyst. She continued, “The superior consumer value of Telefonica O2’s plans is mainly driven by their large data allowances, strong value added services (for example the frequent inclusion of roaming data) and relatively modest prices. Conversely, T-Mobile’s market leading average download speeds justify the operator’s somewhat higher charges. Compared to its rivals, Vodafone’s plans come up short – not matching Telefonica O2 in terms of included services or T-Mobile in terms of speed. Consumers looking to maximize the value of their mobile plan should steer away from Vodafone.”

In terms of overall customer value, the ‘Tarifica Top Value’ plans go to Telefonica O2’s O2 Blue All-in XL for Young People in the ‘without phone’ category and T-Mobile’s Complete Premium for those plans that come with a phone. In addition to the overall winners, Tarifica’s analysis also identifies Top Value Plans in five distinct price categories, from light user at the low end to power user at the high end.

One unique feature of the German market is that youth- and student-only plans offer significantly better value than any other available plans. When looking at plans without a phone subsidy, the top three in the market are all restricted to young people and the gap, in terms of consumer value, between these plans and the nearest option that is available for the general public is substantial.

“In today’s mobile marketplace, consumers are flooded with hundreds of plan variations and constantly shifting promotions and deals—the majority of which come with different costs and services and access networks of differing strengths. When making a decision that will likely impact them for up to two years, consumers can use Tarifica Scores to cut through the clutter and identify those plans in every market segment that offer the best value for the money,” stated Tarifica Program Manager, Will Watts.

Established in 1976, Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring, analyzing and reporting on telecom pricing Worldwide. To Contact us: http://www.tarifica.com/contactus.aspx

STC Offers The Highest Value Plans in Saudi Arabia While Mobily and Zain Tie for Second Place

Tarifica has announced the latest Tarifica Scores for postpaid mobile plans in Saudi Arabia.

The Tarifica Score™ is a proprietary algorithm used to evaluate mobile plans based on the value they offer consumers. It incorporates every aspect of each mobile plan (including usage allotments, geographic coverage, data speeds, value added features and promotional elements) and weighs them against each plan’s total costs to determine its consumer value. Scores range from 0 to 100.

“STC’s Postpaid 400 plans have the highest overall score in both the ‘without phone’ and ‘with phone’ categories,” said Jamie Davella, Tarifica’s Saudi Arabia Analyst. “In the without phone category, STC won because of its faster download speeds, while its with phone plans came out on top in that category because of their lower device charges. Interestingly, Mobily’s best overall plans (Wajid Extra) have more voice and text allowances than STC’s top plan and somewhat lower monthly fees but these attributes do not outweigh Mobily’s slower network speed and higher phone costs,” she continued.

Mobily and Zain are virtually tied for second place in the overall best plans category, scoring 94 and 93, respectively, among plans without phones, and 83 and 82, respectively, among those that include one.

Each operator wins its share of top honors for plans segmented by monthly charge. In fact, Mobily has the best plans in four of these subcategories while Zain wins in three and STC in two, indicating that the market is very competitive. Zain also wins the competition for offering the highest data allotment with its 1 Terabyte Package XTRA plans. Since the Tarifica Score uniformly cuts off all data allotments greater than 10 gigabytes in order to conform to most common usage patterns, plans with this extremely high volume of data did not win in either the overall or price-specific categories.

“In today’s mobile marketplace, consumers are flooded with hundreds of plan variations and constantly shifting promotions and deals—the majority of which come with different costs and services and access networks of differing strengths. When making a decision that will likely impact them for up to two years, consumers can use Tarifica Scores to cut through the clutter and identify those plans in every market segment that offer the best value for the money,” stated Tarifica Program Manager, Will Watts.

Ken Dolsky, Senior Program Director at Tarifica also commented on the market intelligence value to operators. “We see great interest in the Tarifica Score among mobile operators. Users gain access to our proprietary model which enables operators to design plans that score high in consumer-friendliness and value. They are also able to quickly see, in quantitative terms, the impact that competitive changes have on the market. In the case of Saudi Arabia, STC’s best plan scored six points better than Mobily’s best plan among those without phones but when its lower priced phone advantage was included it increased the gap between them to 17 points among plans that came with a device.”

To Contact Us: http://www.tarifica.com/contactus.aspx

T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless Lead US Carriers in Consumer Value

Tarifica has announced the latest Tarifica Scores for all postpaid mobile plans in the United States.

The Tarifica Score™ is an advanced algorithm used to evaluate mobile plans based on the value they offer consumers. It incorporates every aspect of a mobile plan (including usage allotments, geographic coverage, data speeds and additional features) and weighs them against all the plan’s associated costs to determine the ultimate consumer value.

“In today’s mobile marketplace, consumers are flooded with hundreds of plan variations and constantly shifting promotions and deals – the majority of which come with different costs and services, and access networks of differing strengths. When making a decision that will likely impact them for up to two years, consumers can use Tarifica Scores to cut through the clutter and identify those plans in every market segment that offer the best value for the money,” stated Tarifica Program Manager, Will Watts.

Plans were grouped into four broad categories: 1) Individual Plans with Phone, 2) Individual Plans without Phone, 3) Shared Plans with Phone, and 4) Shared Plans without Phone. Each of these categories was further segmented based on monthly cost. Tarifica Scores were calculated for all the published plans offered by Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular.

Broad trends:

T-Mobile’s plans tended to perform quite well, particularly in the “Without Phone” categories. Their combination of solid average download speeds, generous data allotments, added bonus features like unlimited streaming music and free roaming, and moderate costs were able to offset the carrier’s weaker network coverage. Verizon Wireless also performed well, showing strength in the “With Phone” categories, and in the higher priced segments where the carrier’s network speed and wide geographic coverage were able to counterbalance its higher costs and lower data allowances.

While generally competitive, AT&T’s plans were often too expensive to be competitive with T-Mobile in the mid-tier price range and, although the carrier is close to Verizon Wireless in terms of speed and coverage, the latter’s slight advantage in both caused AT&T’s plans to come up short in the higher cost segments. Finally, while Sprint’s plans benefited from their lower costs and frequent inclusion of unlimited data, its average speed was simply too slow, and its coverage too limited, to be competitive with any of its tier one rivals, resulting in the fewest segment wins and the lowest average scores.

“In short, consumers who already own a smartphone will get the best value from T-Mobile’s plans whether they are signing up for themselves or for their whole family. On the other hand, those interested in purchasing a mobile plan with a high-end phone are likely to find Verizon Wireless offersthe best value, provided its more expensive options are in their price range,” stated Tarifica Program Director Ken Dolsky.

Scores by category (best plan in each category awarded a score of 100):

Individual Plans without Phone – This was the most closely grouped category, likely reflecting the fierce competition in the US market, with the top scores from all tier one carriers above 80, something not heretofore seen in other countries. T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plan with unlimited data won the category, followed closely by Sprint’s $60 unlimited plan. Interestingly, each of the tier one carriers captured at least one market segment in this category.

Individual Plans with Phone – Verizon Wireless’s 10 GB version of the More Everything Plan won the category by a relatively sizable margin, while T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plan with unlimited data came in second with a still respectable score of 87. All plans were scored with the iPhone 5S with the exception of the lowest market segment (under $50 per month) where plans were scored using feature phones. Scoring is based on the total cost of service and device, incorporating all upfront and recurring charges.

Shared Plans without Phones – Continuing its dominance in the without phone category, T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plan with unlimited data was the winner. Moreover, unlike the case with individual plans, the competition was not particularly close, with the highest scoring plans from the other tier one carriers tightly grouped together in the low 70s. Driving the wide gap was T-Mobile’s strategy to offer more aggressive escalating volume discounts as lines are added than any of its peers. Shared plans were scored based on four users per plan.

Shared Plans With Device – Mirroring its solid performance among individual plans with phones, Verizon Wireless dominated this category, as well, with the 30 GB version of the More Everything Plan taking top honors. Further, the carrier came out on top in every price segment, with the exception of the lowest tier, which was won by AT&T. Shared plans with device were scored based on the costs/allotments for four users each with an iPhone 5S, with the exception of the least expensive plans which were scored with feature phones.

About Tarifica

Tarifica, a unit of T3i Group, has been the leading provider of telecom pricing information for close to four decades. It maintains the most robust, in-depth and up-to-date pricing database in the industry, which includes mobile and fixed line rates from over 400 operators in 85 countries, as well as historical data going back to 1997. Tarifica also produces reports, surveys, publications and custom analyses. Its clients include carriers, regulators, enterprises and consultants in every region of the globe. For more information, please visit www.tarifica.com.