SA's first and third cellphone operators are hot on each other's heels with their latest prepaid tariffs.
Vodacom and Cell C, respectively, today announced new prepaid tariffs - and the imminent launch of 99c per minute deals, which appear to mirror each other.
Cell C's new prepaid voice product, “99 Cents For Real”, sees prepaid call rates dropping by more than 34%. The product cuts off-net and peak call tariffs to 99c per minute, with per-second billing from the first second.
Vodacom's new prepaid voice product, “Freedom 99”, similarly allows customers to make off-net, anytime calls for 99c per minute.
Both products will be available as of Sunday.
Uncomplicated offers
Both Cell C and Vodacom cite simplicity as the driver behind their latest offerings.
Newly-appointed Cell C CEO and former Vodacom head Alan Knott-Craig says the ultimate aim with the introduction of this latest offering is to give customers a straightforward option. In line with this, Cell C says: “99 Cents For Real takes away the complexity of tariffs as it gives customers a guaranteed flat rate of 99c per minute to make calls to any local network at any time of the day.
“Customers can phone who they want, when they want. They do not have to worry about peak or off-peak times, to which network the call is being made or in which zone they are. This is by far the most competitive, fair and transparent rate in the market today.”
Vodacom's marketing head, Enzo Scarcella, says: “Customers have been looking for simplicity and for value, and Freedom 99 delivers exactly that. Calls to anyone, anytime, on any network in SA are now just 99c per minute with Freedom 99. It really is that simple.”
While Cell C has already released further details of its “99 Cents For Real” product, Vodacom says full details of its “Freedom 99” will be available in the Sunday press.
More from Cell C
As of 20 May, prepaid Cell C customers will be able to purchase the new 99 Cents For Real starter pack from any of Cell C's franchise stores, or retail outlets.
Cell C says customers can also migrate their existing tariff plans to the new plan by dialling 141 and following the voice prompts. “Customers that sign up for 99 Cents For Real will receive pure per-second billing from the first second which means that calls to any local network at any time will cost less than 2c per second.”
As part of the 99 Cents For Real offer, Cell C is also cutting the rate of MMS messaging to 99c per message and giving customers data at 99c per MB. SMS charges will remain unchanged at 50c per message to any network.
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