Changing Your Package Can Cost You High

They say competition is healthy. It is on the wave of this intense competition amongst the telecom operators that we, lesser mortals, are riding on – sometimes pretty much for free.

But my dear, there is no such thing as a free lunch. With the plethora of offers, comes the tension of making sure that you make the right decision. To make the right choice, we must first be informed. There are so many packages out there that are being offered by leading mobile networks which makes it difficult to choose.

With ever changing tariff structures and new bundles coming out, subscribers are increasingly being tempted to make use of these new packages in the quest to find one that suits their lifestyle.

Trying is the name of the game and yes, we should do these comparisons and switch between offers to get the most bangs for your buck by comparing telecommunications companies in terms of their price points and service charges.

Don’t fall for the ‘cheapest trap’ however. Companies may be offering cheap rates on different packages at different times but sometimes the switch is what costs you your balance.

Yes, you need to account for factors beyond the price point itself. These factors vary from operator to operator.

This article offers a breakdown of the service change packages offered by various telecom service providers and facilitates you in making the decision on what offer is more attractive.

Here we are talking specifically about package changing, i.e. trying to understand what it will cost you if you were to switch from, one offer to the next offer on the Mobilink, Ufone or Telenor network.

You would be surprised to know that changing your package if you are a Warid or Zong customer is the most expensive. Warid and Zong, despite being smaller operators, charge the highest at Rs. 25 and Rs. 15 respectively. As smaller players, this is perhaps a way for these companies to earn some revenue outside of voice and SMS services.

Other operators fortunately are a bit better; Mobilink & Telenor for example deducts only Rs. 9 and Rs. 10 for every change. Telenor has made the switch to the default package free (I am still trying to understand why though). Mobilink follows a blanket approach and keeps it simple regardless of what package you are migrating to or from.

Ufone charges Rs. 15 if you are converting to most of its other packages and then come the variations – e.g. from Rs. 10 if you are converting TO the Uth package and so on. You may want to visit their site to really understand what is going on.

However, any benefits in terms of low ancillary charges offered some telecom operators are a relief considering the constant trend of bad news for the consumer from power outages to the soaring oil prices to the constantly increasing costs of living a life.

The good thing to know is that there is a package out there for you and this article will hopefully help you find it without losing more than what you anticipate.

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  • If the package plan is reasonable for us and suit or needs then its 10 to 25 Rs is ok because its one time charges until we may change according to our needs.

  • Telenor and Mobilink seem to be the only caring ones here. Good informative article!

  • Telenor is the best and the Largest cellular company of Pakistan. Telenor is Pakistan Most Reliable cellular company. Pakistan Largest and Fastest Edge/GPRS Network and Largest Cellular Network of Pakistan.

    • Yes most reliable in call drops i am using it. Call failed which does not connects and charged in your bill. Largest EDGE network with GPRS speed even in Lahore.

    • I dont know about best and reliable etc but isn’t mobilink supposed to be the market leader and hence the largest cellular company with the largest cellular network?

    • oh really?????? It has the worst EDGE network in Pakistan, hardly connects and even if it does it disconnects after opening just 2 or 3 web pages on Opera Mini. I can hardly download any app from the Ovi Store. I dont know whats wrong but it just sucks badly. Huh! :@

      oh and mostly when it disconnects it never connects again. So I just put the phone down out of frustration. Pathetic network, SMS bhi 2-3 tries k baad jata hai.

  • I dont like marketing games by these operators. Just keep it simple, give me one rate for conversions, make it cheap, and put no ifs and buts or excepts/provided in the fine print. Mobilink and Zong appear to be doing that.

  • In Ufone super ghanta offer,it is deducting 3.50 per hour but most of calls dropped after 2 or 3 minutes.
    and when you try it again it will be drop your signal and after making 3 or 4 attempts it will complete one hour.

  • The information in this article is incorrect in terms of charging. No cellular operator charges taxes on package change as it is merely a parameter change on the network.

    Secondly tariff for package change is written incorrectly as charges are different for different packages!! Admin needs to pay more attention before posting it.

    • Ansari bhai, tax tou her cheez per kaata jata hai so that charging part is correct for sure.

      Sab ki websites khol ker dekh lain, ya tu tax inclusive rate ho ga ya Rs.XYZ plus tax hoga. Baat tou eik he hui.

      Wesay just asking, did you read the article at all? I dont think you are paying enough attention. :p

      And i didnt like Ufone new ad of international dialing. Ab her cheez mein tou mazak acha nai lagta naa bhai jaan!

      Good job, propakistani team.

      • :) Ignorance is bliss!! Ab sab theek keh rahay hein. I only shared what I knew with my experience in the Telecom industry for the past 7 years. Baki aap sab scholars hein aur har cheez par tax lagta hai :)

        Specifically related to Telenor, their package plan change costs Rs.10, Rs.15 and Rs.25 :) try dialing their helpline! And yes, well done propakistani for propagating incorrect information.

  • Please do post the correct rates of all operators if you think these are incorrect.

  • Yaar agar aap zero mei hero ban gaye tu phir tu aap achay rehay werna people have to pay what not to become a hero :P

  • I love my mobilink, I am using the jazz ladies first package for quite long n havent thought of changing it. but if i do intend on changing it then its not gonna be oh so expensive for me

  • As expected christopher hasnt replied to my comment. Truly a telenor troll. Telenor’s not the only cheap company here. Mobilink’s there too

  • WOW! Slow day for you guys to report this. I remember that a djuice conversion used to cost Rs.100 some years back.

    It is not going to turn hell if you opt for a different package.

  • few days ago I decided to shift from DJUICE to TALK SHAWK after carefull browsing and reading terms and conditions of MIGRATION I changed the package, what I found that my monthly internet package(which i had subscribed a day ago) was showing zero KBs DATA left, So i called the so called customer “service” centre they said k “sir apko pta hona chahiay k all packages lapse” I said k yar I understand k sms packages plan specific hotay hain wo to lapse ho sakta hay but internet moore. is not plan specific, I said k Agar aisi polici hay Koi to wo website pe q nai hay? you guys wont believe what he said “sir hum apko wo policies to na bta saktay na” phir Kia tha I’VE Ported out of Telenor today :-s

  • You say that switching cost is high.On the other hand, due to competition switching cost is going to down.As this is a marketing strategy,if you are coming from one operator to another, you get free minutes, free sms. You are telling about package conversation not the switching cost.


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