3GScottishUser
30th March 2007, 11:22 AM
Virgin Mobile is trialling a six-month contract proposition to capitalise on the number of customers frustrated with lengthy 18-month deals.
Virgin is offering Sim-only contract deals on The Carphone Warehouse's discount website, e2save.com, and in the retailer's stores. The trial will last for three months before Virgin considers a more permanent proposition and the possibility of bundling in a cheap phone.
The tariff offers a customer 150 minutes and 150 texts per month for £15, but no handset.
Virgin said: 'We want to give customers more choice and flexibility. People are tied into 18-month contracts, but with this deal they can keep their phone and pay just £15 per month. It is the same value as our £25 contract. We hope to shake things up a bit.'
Virgin said customers would not move from a £25 tariff for the cheaper option as 'some people do not want a Sim-only contract'.
Retailers and operators have been frustrated amid a slow contract market as many customers are now locked into 18-month agreements.
Phones 4u and Carphone are both offering to buy customers out of the last few months of their bills if they sign up to new contracts.
A senior retail chief predicted that one network would 'break ranks' and bring back shorter deals. Orange started pushing 12-month contracts earlier this year, in response to demand from customers who tried 18-month deals for the first time and decided to go back to a shorter agreement.
A retail source said: 'The purchase frequency has deteriorated. It is far more complex trying to get people out of 18-month contracts.'
The problem has also prompted many contract customers to buy their preferred handsets on subsidised prepay deals, but discard the prepay Sim.
The retail source added: 'A lot of consumers on their first 18-month contracts are realising it wasn't such a good idea. They may have got a good deal, but they are not getting a new handset as often as they would like.'
http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/content/15987.asp?men=0&sub=1
Virgin is offering Sim-only contract deals on The Carphone Warehouse's discount website, e2save.com, and in the retailer's stores. The trial will last for three months before Virgin considers a more permanent proposition and the possibility of bundling in a cheap phone.
The tariff offers a customer 150 minutes and 150 texts per month for £15, but no handset.
Virgin said: 'We want to give customers more choice and flexibility. People are tied into 18-month contracts, but with this deal they can keep their phone and pay just £15 per month. It is the same value as our £25 contract. We hope to shake things up a bit.'
Virgin said customers would not move from a £25 tariff for the cheaper option as 'some people do not want a Sim-only contract'.
Retailers and operators have been frustrated amid a slow contract market as many customers are now locked into 18-month agreements.
Phones 4u and Carphone are both offering to buy customers out of the last few months of their bills if they sign up to new contracts.
A senior retail chief predicted that one network would 'break ranks' and bring back shorter deals. Orange started pushing 12-month contracts earlier this year, in response to demand from customers who tried 18-month deals for the first time and decided to go back to a shorter agreement.
A retail source said: 'The purchase frequency has deteriorated. It is far more complex trying to get people out of 18-month contracts.'
The problem has also prompted many contract customers to buy their preferred handsets on subsidised prepay deals, but discard the prepay Sim.
The retail source added: 'A lot of consumers on their first 18-month contracts are realising it wasn't such a good idea. They may have got a good deal, but they are not getting a new handset as often as they would like.'
http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/content/15987.asp?men=0&sub=1