February 25, 2004
The Great Pre-Pay Scandal?
Well, if you ask me, it is, even though the press stunt by UK 3G operator 3 may reek of just that, a stunt. But there's tons of truth in it...a 3 UK-sponsored report which said that British pay-as-you-go mobile phone customers are paying some £570 million extra in higher tariffs associated with other pay-as-you-go packages. These customer are "the victims of a range of factors, from confusing price structures to entrenched industry practices, which penalise customers while increasing operator revenues," 3 claimed.
According to 3:
-- Of 53 million mobile users in the UK, 36 million are pre-paid
-- 43 per cent of pay-as-you-go customers have no idea what they pay for their calls
-- Pay-as-you-go customers charged about 60% more than contract customers
-- Higher rates charged to pay-as-you-go users add up to £573m a year
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