It has been a busy few weeks for Cell C, ruffling the feathers of the local cellular market in all the right ways. Following tariff reductions in data as well as prepaid and international calls, Cell C is doing it again, this time by taking a stab at contracts. 

 

The company today announced that it would be reducing its contract rates with the launch of six Straight Up packages for postpaid and hybrid (Top-Up) customers on 22 June 2012. These packages range from Straight Up 30 to Straight Up 800.

 

“For the first time customers can see exactly what they are paying for and select the package that suits them best. For instance when you buy a Straight Up 100 package, you get 100 minutes, 100 SMS’s or MMS’s, and 100 MB of data anywhere, anytime for R100. The same applies for all Straight Up packages. Customers also no longer have to worry about high out-of-bundle rates. They will pay 99 cents per minute, with per second billing anywhere, anytime out of the bundle for every bundle,” says Cell C CEO Alan Knott-Craig.

 

Customers will know exactly how many minutes, MB of data and SMS’s/MMS’s will be in each bundle. The minutes in the bundle, however, exclude international calls. Calls to the UK, USA, China, India and Pakistan are billed at 99 cents per minute on per second billing anytime, out of bundle. New international rates to all countries will be announced in the next few weeks.

 

“And customers get to choose the duration of their contract. If no cellphone is required, then one month is the shortest contract,” adds Knott-Craig.

 

We specifically like what Cell C is doing on the inclusion of cellphones in a contract - if the customer wants a cellphone, the price of the device will be calculated depending on the length of the contract period chosen. This being either six, 12, 18 or 24-month options. Add the cellphone monthly price to the contract monthly subscription, and you have your total monthly subscription.

 

Cell C states that if users exhaust their minutes, data or SMS’s when using a Hybrid or Top-Up package to control their monthly spend, they can simply add a prepaid SMS voucher or data bundle, or prepaid airtime voucher at 99 cents per minute anywhere, anytime. If users make international calls, the rate for the country will be the applied tariff.

 

If on a Postpaid contract, users can simply continue using the service at 50 cents per SMS, 50 cents per MMS, 99 cents per MB of data, and 99 cents per minute for voice. If not used, the voice minutes, messaging and data will automatically roll over and remain valid for 90 days.

 

Knott-Craig is not about to stop pummelling the competition. “Once Government and ICASA start actively pumping for a more competitive market, we will make it even better for the consumer. We are still a relatively small player, and we can’t do this alone,” Knott-Craig stated.

 

Cell C Postpaid and Hybrid (TopUp) offerings (including VAT):