User reasons intrigue Telecom head

Press, 12 September 1988, Page 21

User reasons intrigue Telecom head

Although it is the early stages of mobile phone development in the South Island, the product sales manager for Telecom, Mr Des Sellers, is amazed at the variety of reasons people are seeking the new phones. “There is no doubt about the convenience of phones, especially for people continually on the move — those visiting building sites or salespeople wanting information from the warehouse to satisfy orders and de-

mands,” he said. Small business people have also been keen to purchase the phones so they can be in constant contact with all their clients.

Privacy is another key aspect. Whereas the present R.T. system is open for many other users to listen to, the mobile phone allows discussions on the most sensitive of business matters to be aired freely. “One of the biggest savings for many firms is in

the area of toll calls. This system costs 70c a minute to use, for both local and toll calls and the costs are for each minute. (The present three minute charge rate will change shortly to one minute rates.) “A person making a one minute call to Auckland during peak time will save 47 per cent using a mobile phone and 31 per cent at standard time,” he said.

Other savings include a 33 per cent saving for

peak time calls to Palmerston North, 21 per cent to Wellington, 33 per cent to Westport, 33 per cent to Dunedin and 47 per cent to Invercargill. Mobile phones are also extremely cheap in New Zealand compared with other countries. In America the person receiving the call is also charged per minute, while in Australia the fixed charges for the phones are about $lOOO dearer than in New Zealand. “We are very much in

the early stages as yet in Christchurch, but the market down here looks like being very different to that in Auckland. “We are doing extensive market research at present so we can best adapt our services to what the market wants,” he said.

The opening up of the network is not restricted to phones. Fax machines, teletext and any other equipment that uses the phone circuit can be utilised on the new system;