Vodafone Giveaway Boosts Share

Vodafone’s cut-price mobile phone calls and its 680,000 SIM card giveaway in Brisbane last month have combined to give the company a back-office headache. Vodafone Australia chief executive Grahame Maher said the company had been unprepared for the popularity of its $79 and $149 capped price monthly call plans. One Vodafone dealer said: “Before the caps we were losing three customers a day. Now we are gaining an extra six.”

“We had to shut down the porting system (which transfers a customer’s mobile services from a competitor), because of the volume of ports. “That is not worth it - that is an issue which we won’t want to see again. We will make sure what we have works so we don’t get burnt again.” Mr Maher said the major reason for the promotion in Brisbane was to drive awareneness of the company in a market where Vodafone only had 12 per cent market share compared with 17 per cent across Australia. “On that measure (awareness) we think it was an enormous success. Continue >>