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Stream gets short of Dengi unexpectedly
Telecom Internet
September 21, 2007, Fri 10:08 AM Moscow
The revolutionary for the Moscow market broadband internet tariff
Dengi with the subscriber fee 30 rubles a month has not survived even
for two weeks. The tariff author Comstar-Direct says the given tariff
was initially planned as testing. However, the market participants are
sure the company has pulled a boner and decided to stop link-ups.
In early September the company Comstar-Direct providing broadband
internet in Moscow through telephone lines under the brand Stream has
updated its tariffs. The most attractive is the tariff Dengi offering
500 Mb of information at 1 Mb/sec for 30 rubles (at the exchange rate
25.12 rubles per dollar, 21.09.07) a month. Such a subscriber fee is
much cheaper than the existing offers in the Moscow market. For
comparison, Stream tariff average fee is 300 rubles a month. The
tariff Dengi is not surprising to arise interest with the users, in
particular, at internet-forums the users of the competing local
networks advised each other to use the given tariff as a reserve.
However, Comstar-Direct has decided upon making the tariff Dengi
temporary this week, which means no link-ups are carried out any
longer. `We were assessing the possible niche for limited tariffs, -
Mina Khachatrya, Comstar-Direct marketing director explains. - It
turned out to be rather large, that is why we have decided upon
resuming link-up to the given tariff when holding special actions at
holidays or organized together with our partners. Then the data volume
included into the subscriber fee is to be increased'.
Link-up to the tariff Dengi so popular with the users has been stopped
- Photo
Temporary tariffs are frequently used in Stream. For example, link-ups
to the tariff Pervoclassny with the unlimited data transfer volume at
128 Kb/sec speed for 100 rubles per month are carried out up to the
end of the year. But the company is constantly repeating link-ups to
such tariffs are possible only when certain actions are held. As for
the tariff Dengi, no warning has been made.
In this connection market participants believe having introduced such
a cheap tariff Comstar-Direct pulled a boner and having understood it
decided to stop link-ups. `At present the internet-traffic prime cost
is very low and theoretically the given tariff might be of benefit to
the company, - Corbina-Telecom representative says. - Besides the
traffic expenses the provider incurs other expenses, i.e. call-center
servicing, power lines, etc. Many forget about it, thus how such
marketing mistakes as the tariff Dengi occur. If the link-ups to the
given tariff continued, then Stream users might be left without the
technical support'.
Comstar-Direct denies the given scenario. `We have initially
implemented the tariff Dengi as temporary, but did not announce it, as
the tariff was testing and we did not want to raise artificial
interest to it., - Mrs. Khachatryan says. -That is a standard
marketing step widely spread in the West but not in Russia. We were to
incur no losses, as the average revenue of one subscriber linked up to
the limited tariff at 1 Mb/sec is higher than of one unlimited tariff
subscriber with 1.5 Mb/sec'.
Stream gets short of Dengi unexpectedly
Telecom Internet
September 21, 2007, Fri 10:08 AM Moscow
The revolutionary for the Moscow market broadband internet tariff
Dengi with the subscriber fee 30 rubles a month has not survived even
for two weeks. The tariff author Comstar-Direct says the given tariff
was initially planned as testing. However, the market participants are
sure the company has pulled a boner and decided to stop link-ups.
In early September the company Comstar-Direct providing broadband
internet in Moscow through telephone lines under the brand Stream has
updated its tariffs. The most attractive is the tariff Dengi offering
500 Mb of information at 1 Mb/sec for 30 rubles (at the exchange rate
25.12 rubles per dollar, 21.09.07) a month. Such a subscriber fee is
much cheaper than the existing offers in the Moscow market. For
comparison, Stream tariff average fee is 300 rubles a month. The
tariff Dengi is not surprising to arise interest with the users, in
particular, at internet-forums the users of the competing local
networks advised each other to use the given tariff as a reserve.
However, Comstar-Direct has decided upon making the tariff Dengi
temporary this week, which means no link-ups are carried out any
longer. `We were assessing the possible niche for limited tariffs, -
Mina Khachatrya, Comstar-Direct marketing director explains. - It
turned out to be rather large, that is why we have decided upon
resuming link-up to the given tariff when holding special actions at
holidays or organized together with our partners. Then the data volume
included into the subscriber fee is to be increased'.
Link-up to the tariff Dengi so popular with the users has been stopped
- Photo
Temporary tariffs are frequently used in Stream. For example, link-ups
to the tariff Pervoclassny with the unlimited data transfer volume at
128 Kb/sec speed for 100 rubles per month are carried out up to the
end of the year. But the company is constantly repeating link-ups to
such tariffs are possible only when certain actions are held. As for
the tariff Dengi, no warning has been made.
In this connection market participants believe having introduced such
a cheap tariff Comstar-Direct pulled a boner and having understood it
decided to stop link-ups. `At present the internet-traffic prime cost
is very low and theoretically the given tariff might be of benefit to
the company, - Corbina-Telecom representative says. - Besides the
traffic expenses the provider incurs other expenses, i.e. call-center
servicing, power lines, etc. Many forget about it, thus how such
marketing mistakes as the tariff Dengi occur. If the link-ups to the
given tariff continued, then Stream users might be left without the
technical support'.
Comstar-Direct denies the given scenario. `We have initially
implemented the tariff Dengi as temporary, but did not announce it, as
the tariff was testing and we did not want to raise artificial
interest to it., - Mrs. Khachatryan says. -That is a standard
marketing step widely spread in the West but not in Russia. We were to
incur no losses, as the average revenue of one subscriber linked up to
the limited tariff at 1 Mb/sec is higher than of one unlimited tariff
subscriber with 1.5 Mb/sec'.