amaysim buys Vaya: What happens next?
amaysim has bought out MVNO competitor Vaya for $70 million. What happens now if you’re a Vaya customer?
The deal will take twelve months to conclude, with the usual complex financial manoeuvring that these kinds of matters entail, but at the consumer end, it would appear that amaysim’s acquisition of Vaya is simply a play to increase its total customer base.
In a statement to the ASX, amaysim said that Vaya has around 140,000 subscribers in Australia. If you’re one of those 140,000 Vaya customers, amaysim’s initial statement indicate that it doesn’t plan to change Vaya’s existing budget-centric approach. "Existing Vaya subscriber and supplier arrangements will be maintained on a 'business as usual' basis," the statement said.
amaysim does expect that its larger footprint on the Optus 4G network will lead to more competitive wholesale carrier terms for Vaya plans than currently exist, but there’s no sign at this stage that these benefits will flow through to lower plan costs for Vaya customers.
amaysim itself sells its products on a value basis, albeit at a slight price premium to existing Vaya plans. If you're a heavy data user amaysim is likely to be a better prospect given Vaya's plans are generally lower on data than amaysim's top tier.
Here is a comparison of the two MVNOs plans, both of which operate on Optus’ 4G networks compare.
