Now we're talking! Free phones! If true just what the doctor ordered.
Not to put words in Maurice's mouth, but they've actually gotten it backwards. Minutes should be nearly free, and the handsets should have stayed expensive. They've got untold numbers of minutes going to waste whose incremental costs are nothing, and a shortage of handsets. If they charge an arm and a leg for minutes, and give the phones away for free, people will be very parsimonious with the minutes they use. They'll also be quite irate that they can't get one of those free phones, because they're all gone, even though the SP won't really be making money off moving the phones... What you want is for them to talk as much as possible... which means lower rates on talk time.
On another note, wasn't that fancy Nokia communicator cellular handset close to $1,000 not too long ago? Why is it I never heard people complaining about it's price? People will absorb a one time purchase of a convenience items (Camcorders, big screen TVs, Stereos, Motorcycles, Jet Skis, etc.) if it's something they truly want, or provides a function they can't get otherwise. If people are into camping or hunting in areas uncovered by cellular, they'll eventually come around to a G* phone. The Winnebago crowd will too, as will boaters, and the myriad of others mentioned here in the past.
It keeps amazing me that G* management and the SPs don't get this... At $0.20 to $0.30 cents per minute, you'd have to beat the customers off with a stick...
DWB |
