Cell C's homogenous data rate structure is about to be drastically changed, with its out-of-bundle (OOB) rate going up by 560% next month.
The company sent out SMS notifications yesterday, informing customers that the OOB data rate "changes" on 1 May. The text message then goes on to encourage customers to dial *147# and purchase a bundle "to benefit from 15c or lower in-bundle rate data".
What the SMS does not mention is that the OOB price is not only going up, it is going up by over five times - to 99c per MB. That means for customers purchasing Cell C's top data bundle of 20GB (R1 199), with an in-bundle rate of 6c, the OOB rate will be 155 times higher.
Asked what prompted the move, Cell C said customers are encouraged to purchase a bundle to benefit from its low in-bundle rates, with the out-of-bundle rate at 99c/MB. "Over the last few months, Cell C has made adjustments to its data bundles, which now offer customers lower in-bundle rates (from as little as 2c/MB up to a maximum of 15c/MB). Cell C has designed these packages so that from the lowest usage to the highest usage, customers get some of the most competitive in-bundle rates in the market."
Cell C introduced flat-rated per MB prices in August 2012, five months after Alan Knott-Craig took the reins of the company, promising sweeping price cuts and instigating a mobile price war.
At the time, Knott-Craig said Cell C was committed to bringing deals to the table that were affordable, transparent and simple. "What you see is what you get. No more nasty surprises when you go out of bundle. You will pay one rate for in bundle and out of bundle usage."
Cell C's data bundles start at R7.50 for 50MB - a rate that has remained unchanged since 2012 - and go up to R1 199 for 20GB.
Cell C's new OOB rate of 99c is still lower than SA's mobile leaders, Vodacom and MTN, whose OOB rates go up to R2. Telkom Mobile's OOB rate is marginally higher, at R1.
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