Telecom could revitalise its XT network and put the outage problems behind it at a stroke by discounting call rates on the network.

But it needs to act fast.

A, say, 10 percent cut in prices across the board could do wonders.

It would stem the flow of customers defecting to rival networks. It would steady the nerve of customers who were contemplating XT but now have the jitters. It could even tempt business away from Vodafone. A 10 percent cut would probably not dent 2degrees business – that network is much cheaper again.

Let's face it, XT has proved it is not a premium network – Telecom can't legitimately ask premium prices.

Cutting prices 10 percent probably won't mean a 10 percent cut in overall mobile revenue at Telecom. Customers will make more calls if prices are lower and the network will have more customers than it otherwise would have done.

I'm no accountant, but I'd say a 10 percent cut in prices might lead to, say, a 5 percent cut in revenue. But the number could be more or less.

And it doesn't have to be 10 percent. No doubt Telecom's financial wizards have access to pricing models which show the best price cut for the best result.

Cutting prices is risky, but right now NOT cutting prices probably represents a bigger risk. Telecom is in a bad place, customers are not happy. Another outage could see the flow of departing customers turn into a haemorrhage.

Of course, the price cut might trigger similar price cuts at Vodafone. And a mobile price war means Vodafone and Telecom may need to revisit their undertakings on mobile termination rates.

That's another story.

We moved to Balmain Road in Chatswood, our house had reasonable, not great, reception on Vodafone New Zealand's network.

When my employer changed mobile provider to Telecom, my home coverage dropped from three or four bars to just one or two – albeit on a different phone. I would miss incoming calls, only to find a stack of voicemail messages when I walked up the road.

A year ago, I left my job and switched back to Vodafone hoping to see better reception. If anything, Vodafone's coverage was worse than Telecom's. Something happened between the two dates – the arrival of 3G networks.

Incidentally my house is not in the 3G coverage area. And curiously, when there is reception my phone is serviced by Te Atatu about 5km across the harbour.

Shortly before Christmas I tried a 2degrees sim card in my phone. The reception is perfect. Five bars on the handset display and crisp, clear reception.