Neotel reveals SME pricing

By Candice Jones for Neotel

Johannesburg, 24 Oct 2008

Neotel's SME offering will use existing PBX infrastructure, and Samsung Networking will manage the installation and maintenance of the systems.

According to Neotel's head of consumer business, Mukul Sharma, the NeoFlex wireless solution will be delivered as an adapter that can be connected to systems that are already running in the small and medium business environment.

“Each device will represent a line,” he adds. Rental for each line will come in at R99 and Samsung will charge an additional R74.10 for maintenance, bringing the total to R173.10 per month.

Call rates will be the same as the consumer rates. Local rates to Telkom lines are 34c per minute and on-net calls for Neotel will cost 17c. Neotel's off-peak calls are 17c for connections to both Telkom and Neotel phones.

National rates will also be well received, with Neotel calls to Telkom lines at 57c in peak times and 43c off-peak. The NeoFlex offering is still pending the Independent Communications Authority of SA's approval.

Neotel says it will tap into the client base that Samsung Networking brings.

As channel partner, Samsung Networking will provide and maintain the terminal equipment as well as provide the routing. Charles Enslin, MD of Samsung Networking, says being appointed as a Neotel partner will enable it to offer a true alternative to what is currently available on the market.

“We are delighted that we have been chosen to work with Neotel to bring this unique solution to the market as we believe it will add great value to any small business,” he says.

Revamped router

Neotel is also responding to customer feedback on its NeoConnect Prime offering, its consumer voice and data solution. According to Sharma, customers complained that the routing equipment provided for the service did not allow connection sharing.

In response to this, the company is introducing a routing data device that has been expanded to include four Ethernet ports for network connectivity to the router. It has also included a wireless network option based on the WiFi 802.11 standard.

Sharma says the device will hopefully be available to consumers before the end of the year.

The new device will connect to Neotel through CDMA; however, it is using an updated version of the wireless standard called CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A.

According to information published on international wireless hardware developer, Huawei, the technology allows for faster upload and download speeds, and is designed for low latency, low bit rate communications such as VOIP.

It also says the next-generation is Rev B designed as a multi carrier and will be used primarily for high-definition video streaming.