There are less Australians applying for post-paid plans with new mobile phone handsets, according to telecommunications data released by Roy Morgan Research.
2014 saw a big jump in the amount of customers taking on post-paid plans a with a ‘BYO phone’. 30.6 per cent of all post-paid customers were classified as being ‘SIM-Only’ in the second half of 2014, compared to the 24.7 per cent locked in the year prior.
Optus had the highest jump of post-paid customers bring their own phone, 27.5 per cent from the 19.8 per cent registered in the second half of 2013. Telstra had the most ‘BYO phone’ customers with 30.2 per cent, a 3.8 per cent rise from the year prior. Vodafone had the least amount of post-paid customers holding their own phones, with 18.5 per cent pointing to a small rise from the 17.5 per cent registered in 2013.
“In the past mobile service providers have relied on post-paid offerings that included a discounted phone to retain customers for another 24 months. However more and more Australians own their mobile phone outright, and handset upgrade cycles are becoming longer,” Tim Martin, General Manager – Media, Roy Morgan Research, said.
“As more customers enjoy the freedom and flexibility to change between plans, service providers are faced with the challenge to offer alternative incentives besides discounted phones to keep customers from switching. Our data clearly shows that SIM-Only customers are around 70 per cent more likely to have switched providers in the last 12 months compared to the average Post-paid customer.”
