Telkom has awarded the tender for its prepaid service starter pack, and could be launching the long anticipated service soon.
Corporate Communications executive Zeona Motshabi has confirmed that the tender, which closed in April, has been awarded to Makhulu Mechanised Methods. Only one other company had responded to the tender invitation.
Makhulu will provide the starter pack including a security ID card, a user manual and recharge vouchers. Telkom estimates the value of the tender at R5 million per year, but that figure is considered low in relation to the possible market. A two-year contract will be signed at the end of this month.
In August last year Telkom announced that it would become the first operator in the world to offer prepaid access to a fixed line network. The company reported favourable feedback from its pilot project in the West Rand, and planned a gradual roll-out to provide the service nearly country-wide by the first quarter of 1999. The project then disappeared into obscurity.
In 1998 Telkom`s marketing executive Al Todd said the service would become enormously popular. "Although a limited number of PrepaidFone services will be available initially, our market research indicates that up to 1.1 million customers could be using the PrepaidFone within the next five years."
The services will mainly be marketed to first time home phone users and those with a tight budget. Telkom hopes the control possible in a prepaid environment will remove the psychological barrier raised by perceptions of costs of owning a phone.
Empowerment company Makhulu Consolidated Holdings acquired Mechanised Methods Technologies (MMT) in March. American partnerships give MMT access to a range of microprocessor and memory cards as well as readers and terminals.
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