bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Polly Hui

New World Telecom will dole out $10m in promotional prizes

The competition for  long-distance customers has  a new face,  with New World Telecom's  announcement yesterday  of a $10 million lucky draw campaign.

Under the promotional offer - partly to celebrate the company's 10th anniversary - customers who make international direct dialling (IDD) calls  for more than 10 minutes  will automatically be entered into a lucky draw that guarantees a  one-time prize, such as a rice cooker or digital camera.

In addition, for every 10 minutes of  long-distance calls,  customers will obtain a chance to win premium prizes in the Super Lucky Draw. The draw will be held three times between mid-November and next February.

Prizes include a one-carat diamond ring, a Panasonic LCD television and a Sony DVD recorder.

York Mok Siu-wah,  vice-president of marketing at New World Telecom, said he hoped the campaign would help boost the company's share of the IDD market from  18 per cent now to 20 per cent.

He  said that the lucky draws, with prizes valued at more than $10 million, were unprecedented in scale among telecoms groups.

Mr Mok  added that the impact of using cut-throat pricing had become limited.

'Prices for IDD services nowadays are already very reasonable. We have no intention  of further reducing the price,' he said.

Mr Mok said that if  the company's promotion was effective, it would consider extending  the lucky draw campaign.

Outgoing IDD call traffic  increased by 17 per cent last year  compared with data in 2003, and 64 per cent of the  outgoing call traffic last year  was to the mainland.

'This reflects the fact that there is room for the growth in the IDD market.  Customers are now pursuing a more comprehensive voice service, one with varied promotional offers,'  Mr Mok said.

'What's more, the appeal of allowing our customers to save a cent or two  when making a long-distance call is outweighed by that of awarding them with prizes such as an LCD television,' he said.

Both Hutchison Global Communications   and Hong Kong Broadband Network   offered a flat-rate, unlimited plan for less than $40 a month in April. HGC has offered its residential fixed-line customers a $38 monthly IDD plan for unlimited calls to fixed-line numbers in 23 countries.

ICEA Securities analyst Bertrand Chui Kwok-hay  agreed that gift offers would be the latest trend in the competition between telecoms companies.

'IDD prices  are almost approaching zero following the heated price war. Lots of companies are now offering gifts such as iPods  to lure customers,'  said Mr Chui.

But  he said he did not expect   significant revenue increases in line with an anticipated rise in the  amount of call minutes.

'There are now other technologies, such as MSN, offering instant voice messages. We no longer need to rely on IDD.'



Long-distance competition heats up