Telkom offers more high-value plans than any other mobile operator in SA, according to an analysis done by New York based telecommunications pricing research firm, Tarifica.
Tarifica has been analysing the South African contract plans every month since July last year, using the 'Tarifica Score'. The Tarifica Score is a comprehensive algorithm that weighs every feature of a mobile plan against its total costs, determining its consumer value relative to all other offers in the country. The scores range from 0 (worst) to 100 (best).
This month, Tarifica included all prepaid plans too, to give a complete evaluation of the mobile market. To evaluate prepaid plans, as there are no usage allotments, the scores were based on three user profiles (light, medium and heavy) with different minimums for voice, SMS and data usage.
Plans with scores above 75 are 'Top Value Plans' in each user profile. Across all profiles, 28 plans achieved this distinction, 15 of which were from Telkom, followed by MTN with eight, Cell C with four and Virgin Mobile with one. In addition, Telkom had the Top Overall Value Plans (highest scoring) for both the moderate and heavy user profiles. Cell C scored highest for the light user profile.
"Telkom had strong plans and a variety of options at virtually every price point," says Beth Teitel, Tarifica's South Africa analyst. "MTN and Cell C were each competitive in one or two profiles, but only Telkom's plans provided strong consumer value across the board."
Operator performance
* Telkom captured three top value plan positions in the light user profile, seven in the moderate user profile and five in the heavy user profile.
Its success was based on having the second least expensive per-minute calling rate and aggressively priced SMS and data bundles that allow users to easily scale to match their mobile usage.
* Cell C's plans performed well in the light user profile, capturing the top overall value plan and two other top value plans, based on having the least expensive per-minute calling rate in SA and effective bundling.
* MTN performed in the moderate and heavy user profiles, capturing four top value plans in each based on its diverse bundle options, relatively competitive per-minute calling rate and generous data promotion.
* Virgin Mobile performed in the light user profile capturing one top value plan based on an effectively priced bundle.
* Vodacom did not capture any top value plans due to its relatively high per-minute and per-SMS rates, although it did score significantly better in the moderate and heavy user profiles compared to the light user profile.
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