A few weeks ago Vodafone New Zealand announced plans to lock cellphones to the Vodafone network. Their plan was to charge customers $50 to unlock phones in the event that they wanted to move to another provider.
Telecommunications commissioner Ross Patterson waded in and expressed concern saying that the move was a potential barrier to competition.
Vodafone, seeing the writing on the wall, backed down from their plan – kudos all around with Patterson saying that;
Vodafone’s move was potentially a major competitive barrier to a new entrant, and they [Vodafone] reconsidered and chose not to proceed……There is no benefit to consumers, to the parties or commission, to get involved in a long, convoluted process if things can be resolved quickly
Good work everyone involved.
Ben Kepes is an analyst, an entrepreneur, a commentator and a business adviser. His business interests include a diverse range of industries from manufacturing to property to technology. As a technology commentator he has a broad presence both in the traditional media and extensively online. Ben covers the convergance of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud. His areas of interest extend to enterprise software, software integration, financial/accounting software, platforms and infrastructure as well as articulating technology simply for everyday users. 