I want to invent a new phone network. Would it be used?
Handsets, networks, mobile telephony-related items and the conversations you've overheard on the train.
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I want to invent a new phone network. Would it be used?Hi!
I'm 19, and have had an idea whilst searching for a sim only contract that would fit my needs.
Would it be better, if that some kind of phone network launched where you could pick how many minutes, texts, or internet etc you want to have in your monthly allowance, and then get told a price that you'd pay per month depending on what you want?
I'm thinking there could be a website which features different slider type things where you slide them to what you want.
E.g.
- There could be a slider for minutes, a slider for texts, one for data/internet, and sliders for any any kind of add-ons like international calls, picture messaging, etc.
- The sliders would start at 0 for each, and end at unlimited.
- The user could move the slider to how many minutes, texts, data would suit them.
- After moving each individual slider, it would then calculate a cost at the bottom of the page for your specific needs.
- If someone didn't use their phone a lot, but found it cheaper to have a monthly contract sim compared to a pay & go sim, they could do something where it could work out cheap - like having just 20 minutes, 50 texts, and 50MB could cost something like £2 a month?
I've been thinking about this because I'm someone who texts and internets (is that even a word?... No) more than I phone. Most of the cheaper £10 a month contracts on UK networks have 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB. For the same price, wouldn't it be better if say you could change it to just have 100 minutes, 1000 texts, and bump the data up to 1GB for the same price?
Do you think something like this would be popular? If so, how do I set up a business? Haha...
Thanks!
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Re: I want to invent a new phone network. Would it be used?I think it's a good idea but I'd be hesitant to use it. My usage fluctuates depending on who's around at the time, how many people I've seen recently etc and I'd find it hard to estimate my usage.
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Re: I want to invent a new phone network. Would it be used?That's a very good idea, but I'm not sure it is enough on its own to compete with the big existing network companies. They would probably be able to buy you out or copy your idea pretty quickly. If you could develop the software and then patent it then you could be on to something though - just not sure if this is the sort of thing that can be easily patented or not, you probably need to talk to someone who knows more about that area.
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Re: I want to invent a new phone network. Would it be used?You'll have to be a mobile virtual network operator like tesco mobile or giffgaff running of another network. To do this you'll need to bulk buy access and then you would use your own pricing structure. Good idea but I hope your pockets are deep
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Re: I want to invent a new phone network. Would it be used?No ones said it so I'm going to. I think it doesnt need to be an actual phone network. It could be like a comparison website but you provide users with the ability to choose what they want and all the phone networks provide users with estimates as to how much it would cost. To get this going you would have to collaborate with multiple phone networks. Your potentially bringing in more customers so I dont see why they would reject you. There would be some math involved in providing accurate quotes for each phone network but thats a challenge that could be solved. Make sure they dont steal your idea and incorperate it into their own website though.
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I want to invent a new phone network. Would it be used?T-mobile has a similar thing but it shows you contracts that are similar to your choice rather than an personalised contract. If I was you I would definitely contact smaller networks (tesco, gifgaf or whatever they are called) after getting some sort of patent cover obviously. Seems like a basic but brilliant and ingenious idea! Would deffinetly use this if it was available!
However you need to remember that there is a reason why this does not exist, pretty sure someone at the big network company's has thought about this. Maybe connection fees or something like that, I dunno.
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Re: I want to invent a new phone network. Would it be used?This.(Original post by jackdans)
However you need to remember that there is a reason why this does not exist, pretty sure someone at the big network company's has thought about this. Maybe connection fees or something like that, I dunno.
Basically, network operators get paid every time someone on another network calls a person who is on their network. They can charge a 'connection fee' for this. So you would have minimal income but a huge expenditure if you set-up a small network business using this model.
Furthermore, network companies will make a profit by saving the 'unused' minutes, texts and data from your contract. That is why you don't have a rolling system where leftover stuff carries on to the next month. These companies essentially rely on their users not using everything in their allowance.
And finally, EU regulations governing the price of a text, call, connection fee etc would make it virtually impossible for a new business to join the system. If you think about the expenditure required to build up your own infrastructure and then a user-base plus the decreasing value of the telecoms business due to the aforementioned regulations, it would require a vast investment or a miracle for your plan to succeed.
On the other hand, at least you have an innovative mind. -
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Re: I want to invent a new phone network. Would it be used?Surely operating as a virtual network (preferably over EE's current and upcoming 4G network) would be the way to go.
You'd have to charge a premium for the customised service and probably run it by fixed rate tariffs anyway to make it work. Whether the custom tariffs can compete with the fixed rates I don't know. Possibly pay more for the phone as the monthly payments would (have to) be cheaper? It'd be better for short term cash flow and as such could be sold as a long term loss leader.
I'd imagine data would be the biggest selling point at the moment. I reckon that custom large data and text packages with only a few minutes would be lapped up these days.
What if you had an ad supported network? Would you accept ads pushed to device in order to get a cheaper deal? Opt out, pay for the phone, opt in and for the duration of the fixed term of the contract you gets ads for a free or reduced price device. Targeted ads using data analysis from your mobile browsing habits would work well.
Couldn't agree more with your last point.
Edit: of course, you'd still need a massive investment to start with to get even a virtual network running.Last edited by mikeyd85; 03-10-2012 at 22:56.
