Amaysim Flexi fills the gap between cheap and unlimited

Aussie mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Amaysim today unveiled a new mid-priced plan to sit between its pay-as-you-go (PAYG) offer and its unlimited cap.

The new Flexi plan will cost AU$19.90 each month and returns the same amount in Amaysim credit to the customer, plus a bonus 500MB of data. Customers then choose to use this credit on calls or sending messages, both charged at 9-cents per unit (calls per minute), consuming internet data at 5c per MB or purchasing a data plan for either AU$9.90 (1GB) or AU$19.90 (2.5GB).

In return for committing to the AU$19.90 spend each month, Amaysim customers will receive a saving of 25% off for the PAYG plan's call and messaging rate of 12c per unit. Amaysim says that this credit value of the Flexi plan equates to 220 minutes of calls and/or messages. If post-paid customers exceed the AU$19.90 of credit in a month, they are charged at the same 9c per unit rate for calls and messages, and 5c per MB for data. Customers also have the option to change to any other Amaysim plan at any time, without a financial penalty.

Speaking to CNET, Amaysim CEO Rolf Hansen explained that the new Flexi plan was designed in response to direct feedback that the company received from its customers, through various channels, including Facebook. He acknowledged that its PAYG plan was best value for customers who spent under AU$15 per month, and that the AU$39.90 price of its unlimited plan was more than what some customers were willing to spend.

"We ran a survey and our customers were saying, where's the middle ground? They couldn't afford $40 and $10 or $15 doesn't get them where they want to be. 'What's the Amaysim version of a mid-ground product? I'm better off right now on a $29 cap plan'."

Amaysim has been operating in Australia for nearly two years, and is now claiming to have customers "in the hundreds of thousands". The company remains focused on the BYO mobile category, but Hansen won't rule out the possibility of selling hardware in the future.

"We'll never subsidise handsets, because locking people in (to contracts) is against our model, and is really bad, we think. But we may want to look into opportunities to provide people with simple access to well priced phones, maybe introduce a financing option for that. It's something we've done in Europe, and it worked really well."