8.ta ‘drops’ pre-paid to 95c

Ahead of the interconnect fees between networks dropping to 40c a day today, 8.ta last night announced that anyone recharging their account would get double the airtime, in effect halving the price.

8·ta has simplified the 8·ta More prepaid voice offer. The new 8·ta More product does away with the sliding scale of free airtime awards previously in place. Now the benefit of double airtime for every recharge is available to subscribers who recharge from as little as R5. Reducing the double-up offer to start at R5 for prepaid recharges means that no matter how much subscribers recharge for they will get double the airtime.

This means that, despite the basic call rate on prepaid voice being exceptionally high – now standardised to R1.90 per minute for calls to all networks at all times – the moment a customer recharges the cost will in effect halve.

“Together with the double airtime for every recharge, 8¬∑ta More gives the cheapest effective prepaid call rate,”” the network said in a statement. However, it is expected that rival networks will also announce new pricing as the new interconnect rate kicks in (see Icasa drops interconnect to 40c).

‚””We know from subscriber feedback that there are too many confusing options in the market requiring complex calculations around what a call really costs off-peak and on-peak and what various deals mean,‚”” says Attila Vitai, Managing Director of Telkom Mobile. ‚””So I’m very pleased that 8¬∑ta is able offer a straightforward flat rate of R1.90 a minute. Together with the doubling up of airtime on recharge, that effectively means 95 cents a minute, which is why we believe 8¬∑ta offers subscribers the best value in a way that is clear to all.‚””

Vitai says existing 8·ta More subscribers will be automatically moved to the new pricing structure so that they can also benefit from the cheapest prepaid voice calls on the market.

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