Mobile phone comparison Web site Phonefinder is set to introduce a fibre comparison service to ease the difficulties of purchasing fibre packages for South Africans.
Launched in 2013, Phonefinder helps solve the frustration faced by millions of South Africans when shopping for a phone that suits their specific requirements and budget. The company lists thousands of cellphone contract options in a user-friendly and easy to understand format.
Phonefinder MD and founder Lance Krom says the company has seen massive growth since inception, with 200 000 unique visitors per month, which translates into around 100 000 phone applications, with a success rate of around 68%.
After witnessing this growth, the company says it will introduce new services, aimed at helping local businesses and consumers to make better choices.
“In the next three months, we will be embarking on a re-branding strategy. This includes launching a new Web site, which will have a user-friendly interface to enable users to easily sign up. We will also be launching a fibre comparison service which will list all the fibre providers in SA. In addition to that, we will add a service that compares Internet business solutions from the main network providers.”
The fibre comparison service, which will be a separate page on Phonefinder.co.za, will make it easier for customers to find the best deals, based on their requirements. Users can compare prices, upload and download speeds and free add-on offerings, such as Netflix and other perks and features that a fibre contract might come with.
The page will also have a geolocation identification, to provide information about what is available in any particular region, notes Krom.
“We have an application programming interface that allows us to compare every fibre company in the market which offers a fibre contract to consumers. Once we have generated a lead, the interested customers will be automatically pushed through to the service providers’ contact centre, where an agent will be able to sell the product. So, we essentially offer the service free, making a profit through the adverts placed by the telcos on our platform.”
The fibre comparison service, according to Krom, is a lot easier to compare than cellphone offerings, because moving across the various fibre offerings is simpler than comparing 12- or 24-month mobile phone contracts across a broad spectrum of subscription packages.
“One of the challenges around selling fibre is still the fibre cable installations throughout SA. However, because the fibre market is maturing quite quickly, this is becoming less of an issue. Price is also an important factor, as it is definitely cheaper than broadband or LTE. The majority of Internet users are still stuck on broadband and they need a bit of a push to move over to fibre.”
Households which use bandwidth-intensive Internet services are more suitable to fibre, due to its faster speeds and lower prices, with most providers offering either unlimited or high data packages at affordable prices, he notes.
Smartphone trends
From observing the smartphone purchasing trends on the site, Krom believes cellphones are becoming a commodity rather than a luxury lifestyle item.
“Not too long ago, the type of phone people purchased took priority over the price, but now the most popular phones aren’t necessarily the latest luxury phones or those that receive the most advertising.
“More and more people are using Phonefinder to find the best value, and that is increasingly being favoured in terms of data and free minutes over the price of the phone,” he points out.
The most popular phones on Phonefinder are Huawei P8 Lite, Samsung Galaxy S10, Huawei P10 Lite, Huawei P9 Lite and Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime Pro.
“The more affordable phones and the lower level phones now come with really good features like great cameras, Bluetooth capabilities, innovative screens for watching movies. It’s almost as if all phones are becoming equal as the lower-end phones quickly catch up,” concludes Krom.
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