Neotel breaks through 100k ceiling

Five years after its launch, and following extensive criticism of its consumer services, Neotel has finally broken through the ceiling of 100 000 subscribers – and is targeting the 1-million mark.

Neotel today announced it has more than doubled its consumer customer base in the current financial year, to 100,000 consumers. This comes five years after its 2007 launch and following numerous misfires of its consumer services. Its early consumer devices were based on flawed research, and the quality of its wireless network rendered it unusable to many consumers who tried it out.

After reaching the 50 000 mark fairly quickly, and then fluctuating between 50 000 and 70 000, growth stalled. The national network operator now appears to be on track for growth.

‚Neotel takes its commitment to the consumer market extremely seriously,‚ says Noel Studti, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Neotel. ‚We have been listening to what our customers and the market have been telling us and have been working hard on our consumer business to enhance the customer’s service experience. We have a capacity for a million users in sight and with our current network infrastructure: we are poised to double our consumer growth in the next year,‚ he says.

Neotel also announced that its coverage is now accessible to 2.5 million households. Its current offers, it says, “are designed to meet market demand in offering affordable, quality and user-friendly voice and data services””.

Neotel says it continues to bring innovative solutions to its customers “”by providing the best value for customers at affordable prices, which include instant voice and data home bundles, without the hassle of time-consuming installations””.

In the coming months, Neotel plans to launch new products and increase its reach by adding new channel partners to sell Neotel products and services through various retail networks.

Neotel says it continues to pursue strong sales and market share growth by offering the best call rates in South Africa and focusing on customer service – creating value for its customers. At present Neotel offers an average of 25-30% savings on call rates of which consumers and small businesses can benefit from, when compared to the competition Neotel has responded to every announced reduction in the interconnect rates by ICASA since 2010

‚Through our focus on managing costs, we have been able to pass the benefits of these optimisation initiatives to our clients and customers, while giving them the efficiency of our fibre network and the unparalleled reliability of South Africa’s only converged network, with seamless integration into the largest undersea cable network in the world through Tata Communications Limited,‚ says Studti.

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