Cell phone tariff
A mobile phone tariff , mobile phone contract or mobile phone contract is a standardized contract that is concluded between an end customer (the user ) and a mobile phone provider (the provider ). It regulates the provision and use of mobile communications infrastructure. Typical examples are the costs for telephone calls and data transfer. It supplements the terms and conditions with a specific description of services, such as B. a flat rate for telephone calls ("telephone flat rate"). A mobile phone tariff explicitly describes the price, the design, the duration and the availability of the individual services of a mobile phone provider. It implicitly includes services, device subsidies or other payments that are granted depending on the respective tariff.
The mobile phone tariff is typically set out in a price list, which can contain a few pages and dozens of footnotes for each tariff. The mobile phone tariffs are available as printed copies in the provider's shops or on the Internet.
The name of the tariff and the issuing provider are not sufficient for the subsequent identification of a mobile phone tariff. Older tariffs such as the Relax series from T-Mobile have already been modified several times under the same name.
In GSM and UMTS networks, mobile phone users come into contact with their mobile phone tariff via their SIM card . In relation to the cellular network, the user or his card is clearly identified and then linked to his cell phone tariff in the provider's billing system. As a result, he usually receives an individual connection record (EVN), also known as a connection overview, on the billing day . Ideally, all services used will be billed in this according to the terms of the tariff. Billing errors in the invoice are not uncommon, however, and it is worth checking the invoice.
Tariff content
Examples of explicit information
- Fee for the conclusion or activation of the tariff
- Monthly basic fee
- Price of a call from your own mobile network to the German landline network.
- Clocking , d. H. The units in which this call is billed - "60/1", for example, means that the first minute is always full, then individual seconds are billed.
- Billing type for data usage (e.g. time or volume based)
- Options that the user can optionally book
- Duration of the contract or options
- There is typically also information about unavailable services in the mobile phone tariff. Roaming calls may be impossible in certain countries at certain tariffs.
Examples of implicit information
- Special business customer hotline can be used
- A mobile phone that is purchased with this tariff is subsidized with 100 € when purchased.
services
Services that are explicitly described in a typical mobile phone tariff:
- Voice calls
- Short messages ( SMS )
- Multimedia messages ( MMS )
- Voice calls to special numbers
- Voice calls to the answering machine
- GPRS , EDGE , UMTS , HSDPA and LTE data connections for Internet access
- Maximum transmission speed for data connections (possibly reducing the speed or surcharge after using certain contingents of data volume)
- Accepting voice calls when abroad and setting up your own telephone connections abroad ( roaming )
- Special services such as ringtone downloads and cell phone payment services.
Tariff Types
In principle, tariffs can be classified according to whether the user pays before or after use, or whether the usage fees for the respective usage profile are largely fixed or variable.
Credit tariffs
As soon as the mobile phone customer has to pay before using it, one speaks of credit or prepaid tariffs. These are usually characterized by a missing (minimum or fixed) contract term, but can be switched off by the provider if they are not used or not topped up.
Term tariffs
Contracts with a fixed term are referred to as term or postpaid contracts and i. d. Usually paid at the end of a billing cycle (typically one calendar month) by direct debit.
Flat rates
Flat rates are usually runtime tariffs that do not incur any variable call charges or data usage charges for certain destinations. The term flat rate is misleading because so far no so-called tariff actually only includes fixed monthly payments. All tariffs are only "flat" in the fixed network, your home network or the other German mobile networks. Calls to special numbers and roaming calls will continue to be billed at variable rates. In the meantime, credit flat rates are already being offered, which are possible via a minimum turnover.
Discount tariffs
Discount tariffs can be designed as a credit contract or as a term contract. The difference between the above-mentioned term tariffs is that there is no minimum contract term and no monthly basic fee. Cell phone discounters also offer flat rates.
history
In September 1995, 136 mobile phone tariffs were offered in Germany, over 260 in June 1996 and, according to Focus, 280 in March 1997. The current mobile phone tariffs differ structurally from those from the first years of mobile communications mass marketing. There are now many “flat rates” on the market where standard calls are paid for with a monthly flat rate. In addition, there has been a clear trend among providers since around 2006 towards contingent tariffs (also known as bucket tariffs). By paying a monthly fee, the consumer usually acquires a quota of minutes, for example 100 minutes in the fixed network and in their own mobile network. The higher monthly basic fee makes these more attractive for providers - the customer lifetime value is significantly higher. Both developments, flat rate and contingent tariffs, rely on the risk aversion of users who - according to the theory - prefer to pay a little more, but a calculable, fixed amount.
As a counter-development, the discount tariffs were created in 2005 with the Simyo brand . These are characterized by a somewhat clearer structure of the tariff, the originally missing basic fee as well as minimum sales and significantly reduced uniform minute prices in all German networks. After Simyo, other mobile phone providers started in the newly opened market. This also included retail chains that had launched their own tariffs under their own name in cooperation with the mobile phone providers, see also the list of mobile phone providers in Germany . Since 2015, there have been efforts in the market segment to design what was once clear tariff structures with different tariff models (with options that are included as standard or can be booked additionally, such as flat rates, initially only to customers of the own discount provider - as well as minute, SMS or data Packages and later through so-called allnet flat rates to all providers).
Data plans
At the beginning of 2007 the discounters in the E-Plus network reduced their prices for data communication dramatically by 97%. Until then, most of the tariffs for the HSCSD, GPRS and UMTS services were far too expensive for consumers. Other providers then soon offered similar prices. In addition to special tariffs for "human" data usage, there are also cell phone tariffs specifically for machine-to-machine communication (M2M). This is used, for example, to equip trucks or vending machines that transmit their current location or inventory to the headquarters.
Business tariffs
The network operators Telekom, Vodafone and O2 in particular offer separate business customer tariffs, which are usually characterized by lower connection fees. But the tariff packages offered are also geared towards the needs of corporate customers, who often need a significantly higher number of minutes and the data tariff for mobile online services should already be included. Above all, Telekom, but also Vodafone, also offer framework agreements for business customers, which include additional advantages for connections within the company network and which can be tailored precisely to the needs of the workforce. However, a requirement for a framework contract is the provision of at least 3 SIM cards.
Germany
In Germany there were around 700 mobile phone tariffs at the end of 2006, many of which are very similar. Providers who buy network minutes from the four network operators often sell the network operator's tariffs to their own customers with minor changes or additions. At the end of 2007, almost 1,000 cell phone tariffs were being offered in over 366,000 variants.
Tariff options
Most cell phone tariffs have options that are supplements to the cell phone tariff. Some of these options are dependent; H. can only be booked with certain other options, some are independent of other options. With the options, the mobile phone user can adapt mobile phone tariffs to his profile. Examples of options are:
- Weekend options - where, on payment of a basic fee, calls to landlines and your own mobile network are free.
- External network options - calls to external networks are free or cheaper on payment of a basic fee.
- International options - calls to certain countries are discounted on payment of a basic fee.
- Data tariff options - against payment of a basic fee, the user acquires a certain time or volume quota for the use of data services.
Some cell phone tariffs have up to two dozen options that can be added to the selected tariff.
comparison
motivation
Practically since there have been mobile phone tariffs for consumers, attempts have been made to find the cheapest individually using automated comparisons. By choosing the right mobile phone tariff, the mobile phone bill can be cut in half on average. Statistically speaking, T-Mobile customers can save around 70% and Vodafone customers over 60%. A multitude of providers with constantly new tariff options makes it difficult for customers to keep track and to find the contract that makes sense for themselves. Tariff comparison calculators help.
Offline
Programs that compare several tariffs were still common a few years ago. In the meantime, however, these have been almost completely replaced by online offers.
On-line
Manual - The user looks at his last bills and individual connection records and manually calculates a rough telecommunication profile. With this profile, he sets these values, such as "average duration of a call", "distribution of his own calls to the German telephone networks" on a manual online tariff calculator. Provided he has calculated and transferred the data correctly, you will receive a selection of the cheapest tariffs.
Automatic - The mobile phone user has electronic invoice documents and individual connection records from his mobile phone provider. He uploads this to a mobile phone search engine, which analyzes his documents precisely, presents the cheapest tariffs individually for the user and calculates the savings in the respective tariff.
Regulation of cell phone tariffs
The European Commission has repeatedly regulating intervened in the market of mobile phone tariffs. In 2007, binding maximum roaming fees were set. On July 1, 2009, further regulations came into force, which regulate, among other things, the fees for roaming, billing to the second after the 30th second and maximum fees for data downloads and sending SMS in other EU countries.
| Year from July / August | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price caps for calls (voice roaming) | ||||||||
| active; for outgoing calls (per minute) | 0.49 | 0.46 | 0.43 | 0.39 | 0.35 | 0.29 | 0.24 | 0.19 |
| passive, for incoming calls (per minute) | 0.24 | 0.22 | 0.19 | 0.15 | 0.11 | 0.08 | 0.07 | 0.05 |
| Price cap for the SMS short message service | ||||||||
| Sending an SMS | - | - | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.06 |
| Price caps for mobile internet (data roaming) | ||||||||
| 1 megabyte (MB) of data | - | - | - | - | - | 0.70 | 0.45 | 0.20 |
Legal basis:
- June 2007 to June 2012: Regulation (EC) No. 717/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 29, 2007
- since July 1, 2012: Regulation (EC) No. 531/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 13, 2012
Supplements outside the tariff
- Providers of call-through products and least-cost routers on the cell phone can save significant costs, especially when making calls from Germany to other countries.
- Roaming SIM card providers allow voice calls to be accepted abroad at no charge to the recipient. Some of these tariffs also have low roaming prices for outgoing connections. The savings for the user are paid for by heavy surcharges for the caller.
development
Ultimately, mobile phone tariffs are developed by the providers in order to maximize their profit in the long term. The providers achieve several goals through differentiated pricing:
- The consumers are segmented.
- By concentrating consumption on one provider, loyalty effects can be achieved.
- The comparability decreases significantly with otherwise very similar offers.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Teleconsult Wolfram Doering (1995), Die Mobilfunkdiskette. Analysis and advice for C, D and E network tariffs, full version 2.5 (tariff status September 1995)
- ^ Conrad Electronic (1996), Tariff Checker (tariff status June 1996)
- ↑ Helge Denker: Where the costs are hidden in the cell phone contract. on: world online. 4th December 2006.
- ↑ telfish (2007), mobile radio search engine, advanced settings (as of October 2007)
- ↑ See Stiftung Warentest (test 1/94, financial test 1/95)
- ↑ Jürgen Liebherr: Telfish is looking for the cheapest mobile phone tariff. on: computerwoche.de May 25, 2007.
- ^ Stiftung Warentest: Mobile phone tariffs in the long-term test.de, January 2, 2013
- ↑ Skiera, Bernd (1998), "TACO: A new way to compare mobile phone tariffs", Journal for Business Research, Vol.50, pp. 1029-1047 "
- ^ European Commission: The new proposal for reducing roaming prices
- ↑ VO-717/2007 / EG (PDF)
- ↑ VO-544/2009 / EG (PDF)
- ↑ VO-531/2012 / EU (PDF)
- ↑ Helge Denker: Software is hunting for cell phone charges. on: world online. May 14, 2007.
- ↑ Knut Haase, Frank Salewski, Bernd Skiera: Price differentiation for services using the example of "call-by-call" tariffs. In: Journal for Business Administration. Vol. 68, pp. 1053-1072.