Staff Writer
Cell C announced today (6 June 2012) that it would be reducing its contract rates with the launch of six “Straight Up” packages for post-paid and hybrid (Top-Up) customers on 22 June 2012. These packages range from Straight Up 30 to Straight Up 800.
This announcement follows the company’s tariff reductions in data as well as pre-paid and international calls.
“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,” said Cell C CEO Alan Knott-Craig.
“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, any time out of the bundle for every bundle.”
Cell C added that customers will know exactly how many minutes, MB of data and SMSs/MMSs 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 any time, out of bundle. New international rates to all countries will be announced in the next few weeks,” Cell C said.
“And customers get to choose the duration of their contract. If no cell phone is required, then 1 month is the shortest contract,” added Knott-Craig.
Cell C explained that if the customer wants a cell phone, the price of the cell phone will be calculated depending on the length of the contract period chosen – 6, 12, 18 or 24-month. “Add the cell phone monthly price to the contract monthly subscription, and you have your total monthly subscription,” said Cell C.
“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 pre-paid SMS voucher or data bundle, or pre-paid airtime voucher at 99 cents per minute anywhere, any time. If you make international calls, the rate for the country will be the applied tariff,” said Cell C.
If you are on a Post-paid 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,” said Knott-Craig.
“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.”
“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,” said Knott-Craig.
Cell C Post-paid and Hybrid (Top Up) offerings (including VAT):
| Packages | SIM only fee | *SIM + handset fee | Minutes included | SMS/MMSs included | Data included (MB) |
| Straight Up 30Straight Up 30 TopUp | R30 | Deal dependent | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Straight Up 50Straight Up 50 TopUp | R50 | Deal dependent | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Straight Up 100Straight Up 100 TopUp | R100 | Deal dependent | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Straight Up 200Straight Up 200 TopUp | R200 | Deal dependent | 200 | 200 | 200 |
| Straight Up 400Straight Up 400 TopUp | R400 | Deal dependent | 400 | 400 | 400 |
| Straight Up 800Straight Up 800 TopUp | R800 | Deal dependent | 800 | 800 | 800 |
*SIM + device: The monthly fee is dependent on the value of the device
.
