Cell C's new contract buyout product - offering customers up to R10 000 to buy themselves out of their existing contracts, and take up one of Cell C's Epic contract deals - has generated what seems to be an equal amount of praise and scepticism.
The praise comes from the perspective that Cell C's move will at least create some competition as it tries to snatch contract customers from Vodacom and MTN. The scepticism is linked to whether the country's third operator will actually pull this off with a measure of success that would ultimately ensure its long-term survival.
And while Cell C has done reasonably well, considering the market in which it finds itself, it is now in a rather precarious position in this same market characterised by consolidation. While it is always nice to root for the underdog, and it would be good to see Cell C kick some bigger butt for a change, market analysts have described it as a do-or-die move by the mobile operator.
The big question is: can Cell C take away enough market share from the duopoly controlling the post-paid market? If not, can the company survive much longer in the local market, or will it be swallowed up by a bigger fish and simply become a 'victim' of consolidation?
Only time will tell what lies in store for Cell C, but market observers are not optimistic that Cell C can go back to business as usual if its contract buyout product should fail to gain significant traction.
It can well be argued Cell C's strategy of targeting mainly the lower end of the market has not been successful, and it has now realised it must turn its attention to the contract space, which is overwhelmingly controlled by Vodacom and MTN.
One of the main concerns about this deal is that it comes with a significant amount of fine print and variability, which means consumers who do not comply with all of these details, could be left disgruntled and develop a worse perception of the company than before.
Unclear terms
At the heart of Cell C's offer is that post-paid and top-up customers will be able to qualify for an amount of between R1 000 and R10 000, plus a new handset, if they sign up for one of Cell C's seven Epic plans.
Market analysts have described it as a do-or-die move by the mobile operator.
To take up the buyout offer, customers must visit a Cell C store, bring in their latest up-to-date invoice and trade in their current handset to find out how much they qualify for.
At this stage, it is still unclear what kind of handset consumers can qualify for, and how much they will need to pay. However, it is likely the type of new handset will depend on the value of the handset traded in - another stipulation of the offer.
It's important to keep in mind that being able to get the latest handset as part of a mobile contract is central to what South Africans look for when deciding on a mobile provider and extending their contracts. This, if you'll recall, was the downfall of Richard Branson's foray into the local mobile market, and was an oversight that saw Virgin Mobile fail almost as soon as it launched.
Neither rhyme nor reason
However, it is perhaps worth noting Cell C's deal was prompted by the impossibility for most average consumers to cancel their existing contracts early. This is mainly due to the practice by mobile providers to charge consumers all sorts of fees - including a "reasonable" cancellation fee - should they wish to exit a deal prematurely.
Unfortunately, this "reasonable" fee is usually anything but reasonable, and is a sad indictment of the inflexible and uncompetitive mobile landscape local consumers have to live with.
Until someone decides to have a serious look at these aspects of the mobile space, I fear we will always just be talking about "real" competition.
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