South African international call costs should drop to 20c a minute from around the best price of 65c a minute over the next six months, says Mfanu Mfayela, executive director of the SA Contact Centre Community (SACCCOM).
Mfayela was addressing a press briefing at the start of the International Offshore Call Centre Conference in Cape Town.
Such a price reduction would bring South African telecommunications costs in line with other offshore locations, says SACCCOM. The prediction is based on a SACCCOM survey of mid-sized contact centres.
"Telkom already provides a highly effective specialist contact centre solution, using some voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology, which offers rates as low as 30c per minute for five million minutes per month.
"With increased competition, prices should fall, even for lower volumes, and service levels should increase," Mfayela says.
Later this month, Telkom, the only fully licensed telecommunications operator, is expected to release its preliminary pricing structure for next year. These prices will only come into effect once the regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA, approves them in January.
Opening the same conference, Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool said government incentives have gone a long way to reduce input costs other than telecommunications.
"Overall costs can be reduced by 30% through the use of tax breaks, educational subsidies and other incentives introduced by the Department of Trade and Industry."
Rasool noted that about 500 foreign companies have expressed interest in locating operations in SA once the telecommunications liberalisation takes effect from 1 February.
A delegate from a contact centre firm at the conference said the quality of international firms looking at locating offshore contact centres in the Western Cape has improved over the past year.
"Last year we were dealing with business brokers and other agents. Now we are getting enquiries directly from many blue chip US and European companies."
The delegate does not expect South African telecommunications costs to fall quickly. "My experience in the UK and other markets that went through deregulation is that costs drop on an incremental basis as competition increases."
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