Cell C offers free weekend calls

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 20 Jun 2007

Cell C is offering free on-network calls on weekends for subscribers. This forms part of its strategy to grow its subscriber base and penetrate the market within the living standards measure three to seven.

The free calls are available from this weekend, the company says in a media statement.

Cell C says the offering is a revitalised version of the Woza Weekend offering, which previously provided subscribers with discounts for on-network calls during the weekend.

"This kind of offer is inherent to our value proposition and our corporate strategy of offering our customers value for money and easily accessible products at affordable prices," says Cell C chief corporate officer Zeona Motshabi in a media statement.

Cell C prepaid customers need only recharge during the course of the week with any of the company's airtime recharge vouchers to get the free weekend calls, the company says. Postpaid customers can also talk for free once they have used up all their free minutes.

World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says Cell C's move will boost its prepaid subscriber base. "The offering makes sense for families and friends, allowing them to keep in touch throughout the weekend."

The sustainability of the free calls will depend on whether customers also make sufficient calls during the week, he notes.

Something new

MyADSL founder Rudolph Muller says the free weekend calls offer allows Cell C to provide consumers with something they cannot get elsewhere.

"It's been difficult for Cell C to compete, as its ability to offer big price cuts is constrained by high interconnection rates."

Additionally, the company does not offer 3G/HSDPA, which also constrains its competitiveness, he notes.

Muller says Cell C's competitive-edge may not last long, as Vodacom and MTN are likely to react by providing similar offerings. If they see an increasing number of their subscribers porting to Cell C, they will react, he says.

He adds that customer perception will also drive the two large mobile operators to react to Cell C's move. "Vodacom and MTN won't want to be seen to be too focused on profit."

However, Goldstuck argues that Vodacom and MTN typically do not respond to Cell C's initiatives. They see the market share Cell C takes away from them as not justifying reducing their margins, he says. "If it was MTN doing it, Vodacom would have to respond, and vice versa."