tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3152270.post8640968921928049704..comments2024-03-26T12:23:35.307-05:00Comments on The Buck Stops Here: Cell Phone PricingStuart Buckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05731724396708879386noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3152270.post-1568845361941027712007-06-12T23:48:00.000-05:002007-06-12T23:48:00.000-05:00http://www.factoryfast.com.auWhy do you suppose th...http://www.factoryfast.com.au<BR/><BR/>Why do you suppose that land lines did not stumble upon this sort of pricing earlier? Traditionally long distance, for instance, was done with a bottom-line pricing system of a certain price per minute. In fact, in general I’m interested in what has happened in terms of business structure between land lines and cell phones. It seems like almost from the very beginning cells were subject to very different pricing plans. Why? Is this shift somehow connected to the way we use cells, and if so what exactly is the difference – less infrastructure to finance, the integration of functions other than phoning? Is it a matter of more competition in the market? Or, as you suggest, is this at root the result of cell phone companies simply recognizing that a new model would be more cost-efficient?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3152270.post-41407363404675735942007-05-28T18:28:00.000-05:002007-05-28T18:28:00.000-05:00http://www.dealsdepot.com.auIs there a relationshi...http://www.dealsdepot.com.au<BR/><BR/>Is there a relationship to insurance here? For instance, I buy insurance to cover possibilities. If I opt out of certain possibilities, then I wind up bearing the brunt of the costs based on my inability to foresee or plan for certain eventualities. It’s a gamble, in other words. The same essentially holds true for cell phone usage. If I believe that I will only be talking for 100 minutes each month, I am forecasting certain limits on my usage. If it turns out that my wife is suddenly hospitalized (to mix the two metaphors a bit), and I need to make lots of calls to relatives to let them know, then I am liable based on my inability to forecast correctly. The end result for the phone company, as for the insurance company, is that people by and large feel that they must buy more than they need in order to feel secure. And this means that phone companies, like insurance companies, do make a profit on fixed minute cell phone plans, since those plans will generally involve more minutes than a person will use.Mobile Phoneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00968663766752614635noreply@blogger.com