Although details are elusive, it would appear that South Africans are set to have the option of a BlackBerry-like data offering on other smartphones opened up to them.
Vodacom yesterday confirmed it plans to launch flat-rated smartphone data packages, similar to the popular BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) that has captured emerging markets, including SA, due to the unlimited access to services such as e-mail, instant messaging and Internet browsing that it offers.
Nomsa Thusi, executive head of corporate communications at Vodacom, says the operator has a similar offering on the cards for other smartphones, but the company “cannot confirm launch details at this stage”.
War of perception
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says it has always been a mystery as to why the BIS-type offering was not extended to other phones, “given the ability to apply fair-use policies, and the fact that the average users consume less than the value of the data for which they are paying”.
Goldstuck says the problem lies in the “heavyweight users” who cash in on supposedly unlimited access to provide continual large downloads, congesting the networks. “The networks call it abuse, but it is simply a matter of some users pushing the system to its limits. The system is the problem, not the user, and the networks need to put controls in place upfront rather than plug the gaps as they appear.”
The challenge for the networks, he says, is to establish appropriate and workable thresholds. “For example, the new Nokia offering from Nashua Mobile throttles the download speed after a 100MB limit has been reached. The throttled speed, initially 512Kbps and then 256Kbps, would have been regarded as adequate a couple of years ago, and is still workable for lower-end phones that do not suck up data too quickly. But as 3G and 4G smartphones become more prevalent in this market, the thresholds and speeds will have to be rethought, otherwise a consumer backlash is inevitable.”
Goldstuck suggests that an adept structuring of marketing and consumer education could be the solution to what he terms a “perception war”.
“The problem for BIS is that the emphasis is on 'unlimited'. Although it specifically excludes streaming media and hotspot-type use, many users take the term literally. By structuring and marketing it upfront with clear restrictions and calling it a 'flat rate', rather than 'unlimited', you mitigate the consumer objections.” He notes, however, that this may then be perceived as a lesser service, even though the benefits are the same.
“The networks are fighting a perception war, and winning it is not as simple as replicating a service under different terms.”
Share