In response to customer discontent and criticism among consumer groups, WaveTech Ltd. of the United Kingdom introduced Happy Talk. The service is a new way to do wireless, expected to accomplish what its name implies.
Lengthy service contracts and stringent penalties for disconnections have wireless consumers in the United Kingdom at wits end, explained Jerry Brummitt, WaveTech chairman and president. Consumer groups charge that some service providers’ are engaging in “restrictive practices,” said a company spokesman.
WaveTech, which until recently concentrated its wireless business solely on corporate accounts, recognized opportunity in the consumer market. The purpose of Happy Talk is “to dispense with the contracts between the consumer and the [carrier],” said a WaveTech spokesman. Subscribers should be able to change disconnect or change tariff plans without severe penalty if they are not happy, he explained. “That should be your basic right.”
Not only are Happy Talk users free from signing a contract, but they need not purchase a phone. Customers chose from any Vodafone plc tariff plan and pay one monthly charge to WaveTech, which includes phone rental, network access charges, messaging, itemized call reports and one second billing. Users can quit service at any time for any reason without penalty or disconnection fees.
Brummitt said all other cellular service providers require at minimum a one-year contract and three months advance notice to disconnect, bringing the total time of service without penalty to 15 months. A user who disconnects before the 15 months must pay his or her contracted monthly fee for each month remaining, in addition to standard disconnection fees. Even a user who gives proper notice of termination at 12 months is required to cough up about $125 in disconnection and administrative fees.
At risk for WaveTech in offering a no-strings-attached service is that customers can walk away at any time. This also is the company’s key marketing incentive. “We can only retain the customer by giving them stunning service,” commented Brummitt. He said WaveTech sells service and hardware and handles all of customers’ network, service and phone problems. This is unusual in the United Kingdom, Brummitt explained. Most service providers have dealers selling the phones, while they deliver airtime service.
Within the Happy Talk monthly service fee, which starts at about $36, the phone rental is accountable for about $7.50 or $15.50, depending on the model. In the highest use plan, which costs about $86, customers receive 100 minutes of talktime per month. Initial connection to Happy Talk costs $55. Happy Talk customers can upgrade to a new phone at any time.
Brummitt said most phone prices in the United Kingdom are low for new customers, subsidized by commissions from the service provider. But existing subscribers who lose their phone or desire an upgrade must pay full price, another reason a phone rental makes sense.
Brummitt, his wife Anita, and three sons established WaveTech in 1985. The company has pursued two sides of the wireless business, as a service provider in the corporate arena and as a distributor of subscriber equipment, said Brummitt. The company delivers service for Vodafone, Vodata, Vodapage, Orange and National Band Three, a two-way radio operator, and is one of the largest distributor of cellular phones in Europe.
