2degrees slashes data pricing; hints at 3G launch date

2degrees is set to launch a new 2G data bundle later today, offering 50MB for $6.

The new pre-pay plan is significantly cheaper than the telco’s casual data plan plan - until 4pm today it’s only data option - which charges a nosebleed 50 cents per megabyte, or the kind of stratospheric pricing usually associated with global roaming.

Vodafone offers $10 for 100MB on its pre-pay deal. 

Telecom offers XT subscibers 20MB of data for $6 on pre-pay as part of a bundle that also includes 150 txts.

All three offer unlimited top-ups.

The mobile newcomer is also launching its first bulk txt plan today, with $10 buying you 500 messages (that is, 2 cents each) to people on any network.

Vodafone's Best Mates plan (recently capped under Commerce Commission pressure) offers 1000 txts for $6, but only covers messages to customers on the same network.

For now, the best deal remains Telecom's Text Anyone 2500, which offers 2500 texts to any network for $12 a month.

Hints of July as 3G launch date
50MB should be sufficient for 2degrees customers. The telco launched with a 2.5G network network without the oomph for laptop top tethering, video or other intensive downloads.

The real action will start later in the year when 2degrees upgrades its network to 3G, and gains the ability to offer the same speed, and range of phone and data sticks, as Telcom’s XT and Vodafone 3G.

2degrees switched on 3G for in-bound roaming customers at the start of this year, but is taking a softly, softly approach to opening the new network for mass customer base.

Officially, the vague time-table remains “before the end of the year”.

While it must be tempting to launch now, with Telecom still on the ropes, marketing boss Larrie Moore told NBR this afternoon that it was more important to take things slowly and "get it right from day one".

But Mr Moore did drop one hint on timing, saying 2degrees was telling iPhone owners to hold-off committing to a new plan until they saw what his company had to offer for 3G.

Laying it on thicker, 2degrees sales and marketing rep Gavin Costello (who was involved in Vodafone’s original iPhone launch) noted that July was a big month for iPhone contract roll-overs - July being the launch-month for the first, second, third (and likely fourth) generations of Apple’s iconic handset.

New digs
2degrees refuses to give an update on its February customer count of 206,000 active users (customers who had paid for a call within the past 30 days).

Nevertheless, there are signs of growth. The company has just take over the top floor of the Vidcom building in Upper Queen St, Auckland - recently home to Chorus staff. The office space is to cater for HR, marketing, regulatory and call centre staff spilling over from 2degrees’ twin office buildings in Newmarket.

The 2degrees crew are also keenly awaiting the Telecommunications Carriers Forum’s latest number portability stats, due at the end of this month. The TCF figures are certain to show a record number of people taking their telephone number with them when they switch networks and, as with quarterly figures already released, show the majority of the movement was to 2degrees.