Cell C today announced that it will be reducing its contract rates with the launch of six Straight Up packages for postpaid and hybrid (Top-Up) customers on 22 June 2012.
‚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 1 month is the shortest contract,‚ adds Knott-Craig.
If the customer wants a cellphone, the price of the cellphone will be calculated depending on the length of the contract period chosen: 6, 12, 18 or 24-month. Add the cellphone monthly price to the contract monthly subscription, and you have your total monthly subscription.
If, when using a Hybrid or Top-Up package to control your monthly spend, you run out of minutes or data or SMS’s simply add a prepaid SMS voucher or data bundle, or prepaid airtime voucher at 99 cents per minute anywhere, anytime. If you make international calls, the rate for the country will be the applied tariff.
If you are on a Postpaid contract, 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.
‚Our packages are simple, transparent and superb value. Only per second billing is used on voice minutes. Customers simply estimate how many minutes, SMS’s and MB of data they want per month and choose a package based on estimated usage. If you don’t use your allocation, we simply roll it over for you. If customers want to use their existing handset they can choose the SIM-only option. If a customer wants a top-of-the-range smartphone but only requires a small bundle of voice minutes that is also okay. With our new packages you can mix and match as you please,‚ says Knott-Craig.
Customers these days have no way of knowing when a call is on-net or off-net as numbers get ported to different networks every day. Customers also want to make calls when and where they need to and not when and where they are told they can.
‚And we have still not finished giving consumers what they want. Not perfect yet I know, but a helluva lot better in terms of simplicity, choice and price than they can get today anywhere. 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. ‚ says Knott-Craig.
Cell C Postpaid and Hybrid (TopUp) offerings (including VAT):
Packages
SIM only fee
*SIM + handset fee
Minutes included
SMS/MMSs included
Data included (MB)
Straight Up 30
R30
Deal dependent
30
30
30
Straight Up 50
R50
Deal dependent
50
50
50
Straight Up 100
R100
Deal dependent
100
100
100
Straight Up 200
R200
Deal dependent
200
200
200
Straight Up 400
R400
Deal dependent
400
400
400
Straight Up 800
R800
Deal dependent
800
800
800
Cell C Postpaid and Hybrid (TopUp) offerings (including VAT):
*