Is the cellphone Flat Rate really a new idea?

As many of you have probably seen on billboards, newspaper adds, and on TV, the big phone companies recently started advertising so called flat-rate plans for cell phones. Frequent readers know that I see this blog as a place for conversations, education, and exchange of information.

Though I am normally trying to bring you new perspectives about the field of coaching, self-improvement, and how you can become successful faster, it bugs me when organizations toot their horn and take credit for things they didn’t really invent or develop.

From some of the energy-related articles I wrote some time ago, you recall that we at AMC LLC provide project management to wind energy projects. When the first few teams arrived from Europe in 2006, one of the silly issues we ran into was the phone bill for the cell phones we provided. When I inquired how it is possible to reach $600/month on the phone bill when we already offer a 500 minute plan, the guys actually looked at me as if I am from another planet. Their question was: “What do you mean - 500 minutes?”

Over the years of using cell phones in Europe (which they call Handy in Germany, and Mobile in Britain) the market has developed into user-communities no longer concerned about the amount of time they use their phone. They actually have two main options:

1. Get a flat rate plan for your cell phone
2. Get a flat rate plan for both your cell phone and your landlines (up to 4 lines/numbers in one plan for no extra cost)

If you choose option 2, you can call, fax, text, web-surf, etc. for as much or as long as you want in all networks. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that Europe decided decades ago to have one standard for cell phones, so you can switch from carrier to carrier without needing a new phone each time, or having to change the internal wiring, like for the I-Phone. Wouldn’t that be neat for our market here?

Back to the point: With option one - the flat rate for cell phones - you can get deals starting at $30 a month. All that is nice, convenient, and as my story with the guys from Europe has shown, you can get used to unlimited calling really fast.

What I find disturbing is the claim by the new CEO of Sprint that they came up with this new idea of a flat rate. Admittedly, their plan is the most comprehensive of all the large carriers in the US, but it is by no means a new idea. Just because they have, and to some extent still do, gauge us for our hard earned money when it comes to cell phone use, especially when we go over the planned minutes, now offer an alternative that at least allows us to forget the minutes for the “small fee” of $100 /month doesn’t make it their idea.

It is probably asking too much to give credit where credit is due. I wonder how many other things we are fed by the media and the companies paying for the commercials, claiming innovation where they really only copy what is common in other places in the world. Don’t get me wrong, finally starting to offer flat rates is definitely a good thing and I hope competition will drive down the prices quickly. I would get a plan like that for about $50/month – and I know a lot of other people and readers here would too.

At the same time I like to be treated with honesty and integrity. In global and international markets it appears short sighted to think that nobody would notice that Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon simply copy what is already common in other places in the world, and now want us to believe how creative they are.

My advice: Check out the new plans, compare them to your habits and past pains when going over you plan limits, and choose the best solution for your circumstances. Let’s hope the offers will get better very quickly and some day we will also have a system where we can really compete in an open market, where all phones work with the same, faster technology the people in Europe and Asia are used to. That would get us into a competitive position in the global markets and allow us to only have one phone when traveling oversees – without fear of paying an arm and a leg for roaming.

I look forward to your comments – and maybe someone can explain to me why the taxi driver in one of the Verizon commercials where the “can you hear me now-guy” is following his wife to the hospital delivery room is wearing a hard hat with a Verizon logo on it – that’s another one of those examples that bug me – as if nobody would notice???

Axel Meierhoefer, President AMC LLC