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by paxys 1678 days ago
You are overestimating customers' willingness to prepay. Using the service all month and getting a bill at the end is a hardwired habit and how all utilities have operated forever. Increasing the up-front cost for a new customer by $50-100 is going to be a huge hit for the business.
2 comments

True, with one big but. Once a customer is established, especially if you can get them in the autopay system, the prepaid charge becomes just another bill as well. Most customers won't think too hard about whether they are paying last month's bill vs next month's service charge.
> Most customers won't think too hard about whether they are paying last month's bill vs next month's service charge.

Sure, but you still have to switch the billing cycle from end of month to beginning of month somehow. Customers are definitely going to care if they are suddenly hit with a 2x charge.

Let’s also not forget that 2-3 contracts exist and are pretty standard for most people with a phone. That’s years of lock-in on a post-paid customer.