Boost Mobile is exploring new options for selling smartphones, including plans where customers would give up personal information in exchange for a cheaper monthly fee, according to Founder Peter Adderton.
"We're going to do postpaid," said Adderton. "We just don't want to be the same as everyone else, we want to do something different."
Adderton wouldn't confirm an exact approach but suggested the telco has some "pretty innovative ideas" which he hinted at.
"I think there's a market of young 20-to-23 year-olds who can't afford an iPhone 11 but stretches themselves to get it, so what I would do is create a plan where they can get an iPhone 11 but we help them," said Adderton. "What are the benefits that they can give us, as far as information - data, sharing, what they're doing, how they're doing it?"
"Can we market or advertise to them, will they take offers from specific partners?"
Adderton pitched this a way to "relieve financial pressure" from younger customers.
If Boost ends up going down such a route, it would be the first provider to offer a discount in exchange for personal information in Australia. It is however unclear as to what this would entail. There certainly is precedent for these kind of devices: Amazon will cut the price of a kindle if you agree to lock screen ads, and previously had a similar offer for smartphones it ranged.
Locally, Optus once ran an offer where prepaid customers could get 1GB of extra data, every 28 days in exchange for putting ads on their Android smartphone lock screen, via an app. This app is no longer available.
One other option floated by Adderton was selling refurbished phones on a plan. Boost has been ranging refurbished iPhones and Samsung handsets from the middle of last year, but these are only available as an outright purchase. Customers do already have the option to Zip Pay these devices starting with a $40 per month repayment. Zip charges a $6 per month account fee if you have an outstanding balance at the end any given month, however.
Adderton didn't provide a timeline for when we can expect Boost to start selling handsets on postpaid plans. At present, Boost Mobile does not have any postpaid products; it only sells prepaid plans and outright devices.
Alex Choros
Related Articles
