. . . Cost of voice calls drops by 50 percent
Ben Uzor Jr
Telecommunications consumers in the country are in for a good time as tariff wars amongst operators in Nigeria’s highly competitive market continue to favour them. In the past three months, innovative promotional schemes from telecoms companies (telcos) have reduced prices of mobile phone talk-time by 50 percent, as telcos attempt to woo new subscribers onto their networks.
In August, MTN Nigeria floated a new set of value added proposition which featured product offerings that allow customers enjoy more call times at highly reduced cost across its market segments, causing an increased competition among telecom players. For instance, customers on MTN Smartlink will enjoy retrogressive tariff plan, which allows the customers to pay less for more time spent calling. Voice calls price can fall to as low as 25 kobo/second from a peak 50 kobo, a whopping reduction of 50 percent.
In swift reaction to the earlier strategic move by MTN, which enticed teeming subscribers to its network with its new tariff plan (MTN Funlink, Smartlink, Prolink, Bizlink and Happilink), fifth licensed GSM operator, Etisalat Nigeria introduced a new tariff plan that allows subscribers enjoy lower rates of 25 kobo per second for voice calls from a peak of 50 kobo per second. The unique selling point of the value proposition is that subscribers could make calls to anyone regardless of time, network or even location.
Similarly, Zain Nigeria had introduced a new plan in July that offers telecoms users in Nigeria more value while empowering them to communicate at affordable rates. The prepaid tariff proposition offers Nigerian customers the opportunity to make Zain to Zain calls at a reduced rate of 45 kobo per second, plus 20 free SMS every month, 50 per cent discount on calls to 10 family and friends’ numbers and over five hours of free Zain to Zain calls as a three months’ promotional offer.
Besides, the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators are not left out of the on-going tariff war as Starcomms Plc also slashed its international call rate in July. The new call rate, according to the company, is as low as N12 per minute and applicable to calls to the United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom, China and India. It further revealed that the countries covered by the new rate top international business and leisure destinations, as a result, the new comparatively low rate will enable Starcomms customers to be in touch with their business partners and loved ones in those countries.
At the weekend, national operator, Globacom launched a new package in Port Harcourt that enables telecoms subscribers pay 25 kobo per second for all calls to any network in the country without any rental or access fee. In addition, the package, ‘Glo Infinito’ offers free midnight calls from 12 midnight to 5a.m as well as a bonus of between 10 percent and 20 percent for every recharge with N500 and above.
Industry watchers say that telcos will continue to engage in tariff war to enable them invite new subscribers and wrestling existing ones from competing networks. According to them, tariff wars will enable telcos garner more market share, enjoy better economies of scale through reduced cost per unit of delivering services as volume increases. “This is the first time this is been done in Nigeria. This half-call rate tariff package offers subscribers the benefits of doubling their call time whenever they load credit on their phone”, Steve Evans, chief executive officer, Etisalat Nigeria told newsmen at the weekend.
“It is in line with our commitment at inception to get Nigerians talking because we know that everything in life, business or social, political or religious, requires communication. We know that when people talk, understanding increases, friendship develops, ideas are generated, dreams are born and life advances.”
Yemi Adepetun, an Etisalat user who spoke to Business Day yesterday, said: “When I heard about the promotion I immediately subscribed to it and it has helped me reduce my call cost by half. Well, Etisalat is known globally for their innovation and creativity; I do not expect anything less. ”
Moreover, Ernest Ndukwe, past, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) told a gathering of Information Communication Technology (ICT) stakeholders that the commission had laid the foundation for tariff reduction with the issuance of a new interconnect regime in December 2009. Interconnection rate represents the rate which a telecommunications operator who originates a call pays to another operator on whose network a call is terminated.
“I have continued to see tariffs continue to drop since the last exercise with the respect to interconnect rates. Going forward, prices will continue to fall because we have always insisted that more competition will affect tariffs in a positive way. I heard that Etisalat Nigeria now offers 25 kobo per second for voice calls to any network. I know the NCC will work tirelessly to ensure that tariffs continue to drop in the country”, Ndukwe posited.
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