Telecom rings up new deals

By PAUL BRISLEN

Telecom has launched two new monthly plans in the biggest shake-up of its pricing structure since the introduction of $5 capped calls in 1996.

The two new plans, Telecom Anytime and Anytime Plus, scrap peak and off-peak calling in favour of a flat rate for national calls.

National calls are also capped for up to two hours and calls to mobile phones are reduced in price. Anytime Plus costs around $10 a month more than Anytime but call charges are lower.

Telecom is making the move before TelstraClear offers its own residential retail services on Telecom's network.

The Commerce Commission has given TelstraClear and other competitors the right to wholesale a number of residential services, including line rental, on Telecom's network and its public affairs manager John Goulter expects competitors will soon offer their services to residential customers.

Telecom will continue to offer the existing Homeline service but Mr Goulter says around 40 per cent of residential customers will be better off if they switch.

"We'll be contacting customers to tell them how much of a saving they could make based on their current calling patterns but they can also visit the website to use our calculator."

Those customers that stand to save the most will be automatically switched to the Anytime plan.

Telecom is also introducing different fees for customers in different parts of the country. Traditionally Telecom has offered a different line rental price only in those parts of Wellington and Christchurch where arch-rival TelstraClear has its own network. That will now be extended to include Auckland.

Customers in Auckland already pay $39.85 for their monthly line rental so wouldn't be charged more to move to the Anytime plan, while the rest of the country will see the monthly fee increase by around $5.

The new plans are similar to Vodafone's recently introduced Motormouth plan, which does away with peak and off-peak charging. Mr Goulter said Telecom's new plans were not reaction to Vodafone's move.

Both companies charge customers more to call a competitor's customer than to call one on their own networks.