Mobile phone subscribers tempted with increasingly valuable freebies and giveaways

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The special deals offered to mobile phone subscribers have become increasingly valuable in the course of the current year. New customers were promised free calling time and backpacks already last Christmas, but considerably more valuable sweeteners are now being trawled to prospective new subscribers.
     
The larger the number of subscriptions is, the better the freebies offered. A client who books three subscriptions can have a TV-set, while one subscription entitles him or her only to a winter overcoat.
      A large number of mobile phones and subscriptions are bought for Christmas. "The free gifts are a competitive weapon", says Managing Director Seppo Hautamäki of Elisa.
      The payers of the freebies are both operators and retailers, and the targets are clear-cut. The operators want more new customers and the retailers want as many customers as possible who are likely to buy something else at the same time, perhaps hi-fi, electronics, or white goods.
      The retailer's eventual profits will be calculated when the operator counts the amount of commissions for the subscriptions sold. The more subscriptions sold, the larger the fee.
      According to Managing Director Seppo Kokkola of Markantalo, a retail chain of home appliances, it is entirely up to the dealer and the operator to decide who will eventually pay for the freebies.
      Some operators, including Elisa, do not contribute to the costs of freebies, says Seppo Hautamäki. The dealer or the chain that sells mobile phones and subscriptions is in charge of the costs. Only in their own Elisa Shops will the expenses be deducted from the profits of the chain.
      Free offers have attracted a lot of customers. Christmas is always commercially busy, and mobile phone subscriptions are selling well.
     
The promised freebies will be given to new subscribers only later on. For example TeleRing will give a new client a mini stereo system or a wrist computer (paid for by Sonera) only after he or she has first used the connection for three months.
      Markantalo gives freebies to customers who buy either an ADSL interface or a mobile phone. "An ADSL customer gets a coat and a modem once we have received a confirmation of the connection", promises Seppo Kokkola. A mobile phone subscriber gets a winter coat, a home theatre set, a digital camera, or a TV digibox after the subscription has been active for a few months.
      Even new cheaper types of subscriptions have increased the number of those customers who have switched over to another operator. Saunalahti started the trend, and other operators have followed suit.
      According to Managing Director Markku Brummer of Numpac, the number of transfers is currently huge. "The regular number of transfers a day is around 4,000, while currently close to 7,000 transfers a day are handled."
      Numpac is in charge of number portability in Finland.
      However, no real rush is expected because the capacity has been increased, and as many as about 20,000 number transfers can be handled in the course of 24 hours.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Correct mobile phone subscription can bring huge savings (24.11.2004)
  Price war breaks out among Finnish mobile operators (11.11.2004)

Links:
  Numpac

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