Telefonica Germany said that it will start to offer a new prepaid annual package for its O2 customers. The “all-inclusive” annual package offers 12 GB of data per month for 12 months, along with unlimited calls and texts. It will be available beginning on 24 November at an annual cost of €69.99 (US $83.03).
Customers can subscribe to the tariff in combination with Samsung Galaxy A20e for a one-off fee of €149.99 (US $177.94) or with the Xiaomi Redmi 9A for a one-off fee of €119.99 (US $142.35). If the data volume of the annual package is used up, customers can purchase additional internet service via the O2 My Prepaid Data Packs.
Tarifica’s Take
While prepaid service is often associated with consumers’ desire to avoid long-term (or even relatively short-term) commitments, there is clearly something to be said for a prepaid package that takes care of a year’s service. Of course, many prepaid customers do want to pay as they go, but Telefonica Germany’s new offering points toward a different scenario.
Paying up front guarantees 12 GB of data and unlimited calls and texts for a year at the rate of under €6.00 (US $7.12) a month, which is certainly a very attractive price. But even more than that, it is likely that potential customers will find this offer attractive because of the present climate of economic uncertainty driven largely by the pandemic.
A not-insubstantial contingent of customers has good reasons to believe that they may lose their job or have other causes of financial limitation within the next year. Therefore, by buying a year’s worth of mobile service at an advantageous price makes perfect sense, by making sure that this all-important aspect of life is taken care of and proof against any future shortfalls in disposable income. A more conventional prepaid package or a postpaid package would, by contrast, expose the user to interruption of service. The addition of the device purchase with discounts sweetens the deal, ensuring that the customer will start off the year with a fresh phone that is not at all likely to need replacement within the 12-month period.