Samsung Galaxy Note in SA: pricing and details

Is it a tablet? Is it a phone? Actually, it’s a bit of both. Samsung Electronics has launched what it’s calling the first and largest 5,3-inch high-definition “Super Amoled” smartphone in SA. This is a beast of a phone. And it has a beastly price tag: expect to have to fork over at least eight and a half grand to own one (outside of a contract).

Samsung puts the recommended retail price at between R8 499 and R8 999 and is punting the phone, which has a 1280×800-pixel display and a stylus for note-taking and other tasks, as combining best of tablets and smartphones in a single device.

Despite its enormous screen, the Galaxy Note is a just 9,7mm thick and weighs only 178g, which is not much more than the popular Galaxy S II.

The display is reinforced with Gorilla Glass — a standard feature in high-end smartphones these days — and the Note comes preinstalled with Google’s Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system. Samsung says an upgrade to Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich, will follow.

The Korean company hasn’t crimped on the hardware innards, either. It includes a dual-core 1,4GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor and 1GB of RAM. It’s available in 16GB and 32GB models in international markets, though only the 16GB is available in SA at launch.There’s a microSD slot that supports up to a further 32GB of storage space.

The Galaxy Note includes an 8-megapixel camera, LED flash, autofocus, and shoots 1080p video at 30 frames a second. It also offers a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video calling.
Connectivity is provided via Wi-Fi (up to 802.11n) and 21Mbit/s cellular downloads (5,7Mbit/s on the uplink). There’s DNLA support, too, for streaming content to and from compatible devices like PCs.

The stylus, which Samsung calls the “S Pen”, and which slots into the bottom of the device, allows users to annotate Web pages, documents and images and take screenshots, which can be shared via e-mail, MMS and social networks.

For business users, Samsung has included support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, Cisco WebEx for video conferencing, and a wide range of virtual private networking support.

The Galaxy Note is being called a “phone tablet” by Samsung. It supports multi-touch input and includes new gestures like a “judo swipe” that involves swiping the side of your hand across the screen to take a screenshot.

Users can also take selective screenshots from websites by circling the elements on the page they want to save. These can then be further annotated and shared.

In conjunction with the Galaxy Note, Samsung has launched an instant-messaging service called ChatON, its equivalent of cross-platform message service Whatsapp and Apple’s iMessage. ChatON doesn’t come preinstalled on the Galaxy Note but can be downloaded from the Samsung app store.

The Galaxy Note will be available in SA in the second week in November. — Craig Wilson, TechCentral

Mobile Phones dominate in South Africa / Nielsen Wire

September 30, 2011 Jan Hutton, Director, Telecoms, Nielsen Southern Africa

Africa is in the midst of a technological revolution, and nothing illustrates that fact than the proliferation of mobile phones. Consider this: more Africans have access to mobile phones than to clean drinking water. In South Africa, the continent’s strongest economy, mobile phone use has gone from 17 percent of adults in 2000 to 76 percent in 2010. Today, more South Africans – 29 million – use mobile phones than radio (28 million), TV (27 million) or personal computers (6 million). Only 5 million South Africans use landline phones.

Nielsen’s recently released Mobile Insights study in South Africa, which examined consumers’ usage of and attitudes toward mobile phones, networks and services, reveals a number of interesting insights:

- High levels of network loyalty: 95 percent of subscribers have been with their carrier for an average of 4.2 years, and 81 percent said they’d recommend their network providers to friends and family, reinforcing the importance of word-of-mouth and reputation in the industry.
- Move from pre-paid to contracts: While pre-paid plans still make up between 82 and 85 percent of the market, 25 percent of subscribers say they could switch from pre-paid to contract packages within the next year.
- Network quality a key decision factor: More than a quarter (27%) said they left their previous provider due to poor network quality.
- Nokia rules: More than half (52%) own that company’s handsets, followed by Samsung and BlackBerry, and 56 percent of those currently using other brands indicated their next handset would likely be a Nokia.

How do South Africans Use their phones?

As in other countries, mobile phones are being used in a range of ways aside from talking. South Africa ranks fifth in the world for mobile data usage, ahead of the United States, which ranks seventh.

More than 20 percent of those surveyed said they download ringtones and a similar number said they download music. Wallpapers, screensavers and pictures are also popular downloadables. The mobile phone as an Internet device is also on the rise – 11 percent of South Africans use their mobiles to go online, and consumers aged 25-34 are the heaviest users.

Facebook is the most popular social media platform, used by 85 percent of mobile subscribers. Half of all users of Facebook in South Africa access the site via their mobiles. MXIT, a mobile instant messaging platform, is also popular in the country, with 61 percent saying they access the site. SMS text messaging is practically ubiquitous among South African mobile customers, and is used by almost 4.2 times more people than e-mail.

More than two-thirds (69%) of consumers prefer sending texts to calling, in large part because it is less expensive, and 10 percent believe texting to be a faster way of communicating.

The majority (60%) of South African mobile users said they are aware of mobile banking services offered by banks, but only 21 percent say they use such services. A much larger number of those aware of the services said they would never use them, suggesting banks might need to invest in communicating the benefits and security of mobile banking.

This survey provides a comprehensive benchmark against which the changes occurring in the rapidly evolving telecom sector can be measured. When one considers that just three years ago, there were no smartphones being used on the continent, the pace of change is stunning. South Africa is the biggest market, but other countries on the continent are likely to catch up fast.

Operators must up service game – Bain | TechCentral

Vittorio Massone

SA’s mobile operators must do more to up their game in customer service instead of simply trying to outdo each other on price, says Vitorrio Massone, managing partner in SA at management consulting firm Bain & Company.

In the past year, the operators have slashed their mobile data prices in the hope of attracting new customers as the market begins to reach maturity. But Massone believes they could be doing more to retain their existing customers by improving the service experience.

“What’s happened in the past year is they have kept competing more on price than anything else, especially the new entrants,” Massone says.

The entry of Telkom’s mobile arm, 8ta, into the market, coupled with a reinvigorated Cell C, has shaken up the market in the past year, with operators undercutting one another on price, especially in broadband.

“The operators have been focused on attracting the most number of new customers as fast as possible, but the game is now about retaining customers and selling them more services. This is a completely different game and requires a different way of competing.”

Now, rather than chasing new customers, SA’s operators must understand how to create “happy customers” who will promote their brands — Massone calls them “promoters” — and win over clients from rival networks. “Growth now needs to be based on loyalty economics.”

Massone says promoters help operators attract other customers through positive referrals and typically spend 20% more than other customers. Also, they’re much less likely to move to other networks. Companies need to understand what keeps these customers loyal and what creates “detractors” and improve their customer touch points to turn more subscribers into promoters.

“You need to understand what in those touch points can create a promoter and what can create a detractor,” he says. “There’s a need to focus on creating a consistent performance at the most important customer touch points. It’s a pervasive exercise and has to become something that is done at the CEO level, if not the board level, and must become part of the mission and strategy of the company.”

The challenge for operators, Massone says, is that customer-facing employees are often not sufficiently empowered or trained because they are too far from where power rests and where decisions are made.
“The key step is empowering these people,” he says. He suggests operators could call back customers within 24 hours of an interaction at a key touch point, asking them to score the quality of the interaction to create an objective measure of what’s happening in the company’s branches and call centres. Then, he says, offer to have the employee who dealt with the customer call them for further feedback.

“You empower the front end so these employees begin to understand the impact they have on clients,” Massone says. “From this feedback from clients, [employees] will learn enormously.”

He adds that it’s also important for operators to identify their best customers and focus extra attention on them. “If you are able to understand what clients want, and offer them a differentiated service, then you can prevent yourself from competing only on price.”

Customers will often look for the reassurance of the brand and the quality of support and service on offer and won’t always go for the cheapest option.

However, operators must also reduce their costs as competition intensifies and prices fall, Massone says.
Networks can define who and where their most important customers are and plan differentiated coverage that helps them to manage their capital expenditure better. Operators must also focus on extracting more productivity from their field staff as a way of improving efficiencies and reducing costs. — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral

Telkom gets aggressive with business mobile | TechCentral

Telkom has launched its first mobile offerings aimed at the business market and is taking the fight to its rivals with aggressive introductory offers on smartphones and tablets.

Telkom Business Mobile — the brand the company is using for its business-focused products — is offering tablets from Apple, Motorola and Research in Motion at aggressive prices on 24-month contracts.

The company is promising savings of about 20% compared to products offered by rival network operators.

For example, the company is offering Motorola’s Android-powered Xoom tablet for R340/month with 10GB of monthly data on Telkom’s own mobile network (plus 10GB for use late at night for R100/month more).
It’s also providing BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBook tablets on two contracts costing R410/month and R595/month, depending on the hardware taken.

It’s offering Apple’s iPad 2 tablet, too, though is offering a R6 000 rebate for use at iStore outlets as the US company does not allow the iPad to be sold on contract bundles. The offer allows consumers to buy any Apple product except the iPhone and includes 10GB of monthly data for R375/month on a 24-month contract. — Staff reporter, TechCentral

Microsoft’s Mango is unexpectedly sweet

[By Alistair Fairweather]
 
I’m not the biggest fan of Microsoft. I’ve made that pretty clear over the years. The company has spent a decade in various degrees of stagnation, largely thanks to keeping Uncle Fester’s evil twin as its CEO. It has made a string of expensive and stupid acquisitions, including buying profit-less Skype for US$8,5bn and pumping a reported $1bn into an ailing Nokia in an attempt to buy its way into a market in which it has proved too inept to make its own way.

And it has let the new Gang of Four (Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook) colonise all the vibrant new markets from mobile phones and tablets through to search and social media. After two decades of almost complete dominance in the realms of software, Microsoft now looks like a bit of a lame duck.

And so when I heard about Windows Phone 7, it was all I could do to stifle a yawn. “Wow,” I thought, “so Microsoft has finally caught up with the iPhone circa 2007. Pity it’s 2011.” (I’m a lot more sarcastic in my head than I am out loud.) I’ve never seen a Microsoft mobile device that impressed me in the least bit. Its Windows CE devices were just depressingly bad — at least the ones I saw and played with anyway.
And so when I picked up Chris Rawlinson’s new Samsung Focus running Windows Phone 7 “Mango” — the latest version of the operating system — I wasn’t expecting much. I’m an iPhone guy, and a snob, and (as I’ve said) I have pretty clear feelings about M$oft.

The interface is much slicker and more beautiful than any of the videos I’d watched led me to believe. Samsung’s beautiful Amoled screen certainly helps. It seems a little less sharp than the iPhone’s retina display, but the colours are incredibly vivid. Having grown up under the yoke of Microsoft’s trademark interface design ethos (that is, difficult, fiddly, clumsy and flat), I was expecting Mango to be more of the same. It’s not. Intuitive, fluid, immersive and reactive — this is a great user experience. It’s quite different from the iPhone, but for once “different” doesn’t just mean “we changed it so we wouldn’t get sued” or, even worse, “crap and poorly thought out”.

The Samsung Focus

I particularly enjoyed the active panels on the home screen, and the way social media and your contacts list are so neatly interwoven. The interface isn’t just a product of care and thought, but of passion and joy — things that have lacked in so many of Microsoft’s core products for years.

And so, I am eating humble pie. Microsoft, I will stop jeering at your failure with the aborted Kin, and at the crapness of Windows CE. Your mobile team has really impressed me, and that takes a lot.

Whether Mango will be enough to reverse the stranglehold that Android, Research in Motion and Apple have on the market is another question. It would tragically ironic if Microsoft finally found its mobile mojo two years too late. It’s going to have to pump billions into its applications platform in order to get a brand new ecosystem off the ground from a standing start. Without the buy-in of third party developers they are just not going to be able to make any headway.

But the Nokia deal is starting to look a little less foolish. If Nokia’s manufacturing scale can be combined with Mango’s beauty in a pleasing package, then Nokia has a chance to rise from its early grave. The problem is that both Nokia and Microsoft will have to spend their way into the market even to be heard. The momentum is not on their side.

Be all that as it may, the Focus is a beautiful device, running a beautiful operating system. I am still happy with my iPhone, but I can imagine this bad boy is a lot of people’s idea of heaven.

• Alistair Fairweather is digital platforms manager at the Mail & Guardian
• This piece was originally published at alistairfairweather.com
  

Don’t get a new smartphone now « Columns « MyBroadband Tech and IT News

There are very good reasons to wait, says Moneyweb’s Hilton Tarrant

The device makers won’t like you reading this. In fact, the operators won’t either.

Don’t buy or upgrade to a new smartphone now. It’s similar to the deflationary curse: Why make a purchase decision now when you can make it tomorrow? After all, goods will be cheaper then. And, in the case of smartphones (and all technology), they will almost certainly be cheaper – unless the rand takes a dive.

But, there’s a very, very good reason to wait when it comes to getting a smartphone. Most of the major handset manufacturers are about to announce important new models, or are busy transitioning to a new platform altogether.

But why should you care about the operating system (OS) on your smartphone? One word: apps. If you’re running an old OS, chances are there won’t be any new applications being developed for it. Also, older versions of platforms are clunky and turn normal tasks like e-mail and web browsing into a poor experience.

“Upgradability” is another factor to consider when it comes to picking a phone (and platform). Will you be able to upgrade to a newer version of iOS/Android/Bada/Symbian/Windows Phone? If you can’t upgrade, you’re stuck on that OS until your next upgrade in two years time – and a lot changes in two years.

Both BlackBerry and Nokia have been (unfairly) pummelled by the investment and analyst community over recent months. Each has its own unique challenges, largely the result of strategic missteps or inaction in the past. And each is transitioning to a new platform/operating system.

Nokia’s move to Windows Phone 7 (WP7) has been well-publicised and we will see the first new model running Microsoft’s (quality) operating system before the end of the year. A video of its flagship device, the N9, running WP7 has already been leaked. (The N9 runs the aborted MeeGo operating system.) And it looks impressive.

There’s nothing wrong with Windows Phone 7. In fact, for the first time, there’s a viable challenger to the current Apple iOS and Google Android hegemony. That does not mean there aren’t great devices available. The Nokia E6, a hybrid qwerty/touchscreen phone, is a fantastic device – don’t get me wrong. Great build quality and an improved OS, but standing in the shadow of a WP7 future. Nokia should’ve arguably shipped the E6 a year ago.

BlackBerry’s transition is different. It’s rewriting its OS from the ground up, basing it on the QNX operating system that the Playbook is built on. This is a major leap forward and if they get it to market quickly, using a BlackBerry will finally be comparable to the smartphone leaders of today. Try using a BlackBerry browser and then use an Android device or iPhone. See what I mean?

The problem is that BlackBerry’s current models are stuck between a very dated platform (the one on your kid’s BlackBerry), and the future. So the current devices available are either running OS 5, OS 6 (a big improvement), with the promise of OS7 on the horizon (it’s more “6.5” than “7”, but anyway). The BlackBerry Bold 9780 is a solid phone – it runs the new “OS 6” which is a leap ahead of the older platform. But the Bold 9900 with OS 7 and hybrid qwerty/touchscreen will be available in months. And there’s the prospect of yet-to-be-announced devices on that new platform…

We should see Apple updating its iPhone before the holiday season. This could be a minor improvement, or a completely new device. At least you don’t have to be too concerned with upgrades – the new iOS 5 will be available in a month or two’s time.

Samsung and HTC continue innovating with an avalanche of new models being released throughout every year. The Samsung Galaxy SII and HTC Sensation are their respective flagship smartphones at the moment, but expect this to change before Christmas.

LG, Sony Ericsson and Motorola have largely faded into the background. Motorola’s MB525 (the water and scratch resistant “Defy”) is a great handset, and Sony Ericsson’s Xperia range has great devices. LG’s Optimus Black is also a solid smartphone, but all three of these give a feeling of simply “ticking the boxes” – there’s very little differentiation on the Android platform.

There are a few options. Buy any of these smartphones with the full knowledge that 12 months down the line they’re going to be very “dated”. Or buy something that’s easily upgradeable like the iPhone 4 – but know that it too will be “old” next year.

Alternatively stall on your upgrade altogether, or stall for now and buy an entry-level smartphone cash for under R1 000 like the Vodafone 858 Smart, or one of the lower-spec BlackBerry devices. This will give you the apps (at least some of them), services and experience you’ll be looking for from a smartphone until you can make a decision later this year with new devices and platforms on the market.

*Hilton Tarrant contributes to “Broadband”, a column on Moneyweb covering the ICT sector in South Africa. He’s perfectly happy carrying both a BlackBerry Bold and Apple iPhone…

Full Android Market coming to SA

— Staff reporter, TechCentral

The full Android Market, including paid-for applications, is coming to SA and 98 other markets around the world, Google announced at its I/O conference in the US last night.

The market will be available in 26 African countries, including SA, from today, according to Google.

Android is Google’s mobile operating system. The Android Market is a direct rival to Apple’s App Store. Unlike the Apple store, the Android Market will also offer game downloads to SA consumers.

Africans countries to get the full Android Market include SA, Kenya, Uganda, Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria.

“Consumers from these newly supported countries will have access to over 200 000 free and paid apps in Android Market, which they can access directly from their Android-powered devices,” according to a Google statement.

R149 for 2GB specials: Will they last?

Rudolph Muller

May 29, 2011

1 comment

Cell C, Vodacom and MTN are all offering customers 2GB of data at R149 per month. But for how long will these promotions continue?

When Cell C launched their 21Mbps HSPA+ network and broadband offerings in September 2011 consumers were delighted by the company’s aggressively priced 24GB and 60GB prepaid broadband promotions.

In November last year Cell C complimented their prepaid data offerings with twelve month contract offerings – including a 2GB promotion priced at R149 per month.

Vodacom and MTN responded to Cell C’s promotion recently, also offering consumers 2GB of data and a modem for R149 per month.

Below cost?

The sustainability of these mobile broadband promotions were questioned with many industry players pointing out that these special prices are well below cost.

Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys told MyBroadband that while it is complex to calculate the exact cost of delivering a MB of data over their network, their current 2GB promotional price is definitely below cost.

8ta’s Zoltan Miklos also said at the recent broadband summit that a price of 3c or 5c per MB is simply not sustainable for 8ta, with a price of 10c per MB being bandied around as the floor for sustainable mobile broadband pricing.

Promotions to end?

Vodacom, MTN and Cell C are aggressively marketing their 2GB mobile broadband promotions, but the longevity of the promotions is uncertain.

Vodacom said from the outset that their promotion will only be available for three months: from 1 May to 31 July.

MTN’s promotion was initially advertised as being valid from 1 May to 16 May, but the promotion simply continued after the 16 May deadline and the company is now saying that the offer will be available “while stocks last”.

MTN was contacted to gain clarity about their 2GB promotion, but the company did not respond to requests for information.

Cell C is also promoting their 2GB special as being available “while stocks last,” and the company would not give details about their stock levels and potential end dates.

MyBroadband has also received information that Internet Solutions notified their customers that from the end of May the promotion from Cell C would come to an end. “Stock on hand can still be activated for 3 months after (up to August),” one user reported.

Cell C was asked about this apparent notice from Internet Solutions, but the company did not provide feedback by the time of publication.

T-Mobile unveils new tiered data plans for smartphones, details throttling speeds

May 23, 2011 — 11:40am ET | By Sue Marek

T-Mobile USA unveiled three new tiered data plans for smartphones, in addition to its existing $30 per month plan that offers 5 GB of data. The operator also said that if customers go over their allotted data cap they will not incur overage charges but instead will have their data speeds throttled down to an EDGE, or 2G, experience of around 100 Kbps or less.

T-Mobile customers with smartphones can now select from the following options:

• $10 for 200 MB per month
• $20 for 2 GB
• $30 for 5 GB
• or $60 for 10 GB

According to a T-Mobile spokeswoman, customers will be notified via a free text message when they exceed their monthly data threshold. At that time, they will have the option to change their data plan to one with more data or continue to use their existing plan with the reduced speeds for the remainder of the month.
In November, T-Mobile took its first steps toward tiered data pricing with the introduction of a 200 MB data plan for $10 per month in addition to its existing $30 plan for unlimited data.
Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) earlier this year said it will introduce tiered data pricing for smartphones sometime this summer. The carrier said it decided to wait to make the move until after it launched the iPhone. Further, Verizon last week said it will offer family plans for data services, though Verizon Communications CFO Fran Shammo stopped short of providing a launch date for the new plans. Shammo, who disclosed the news to Reuters, said the carrier will introduce the family data plans sometime after it replaces its unlimited smartphone data service with tiered data pricing. He did not provide any further details on the plans.
AT&T, which was the first U.S. operator to move to tiered data pricing, said in March that it had more than 10 million customers on its tiered data price plans. The company charges $15 per month for 200 MB of data and $25 per month for 2 GB of data.
Industry watchers have predicted that wireless carriers will continue to move toward tiered plans as a way to address users' skyrocketing demands for mobile data, driven in large part by touchscreen smartphones.

Vodafone launches sub-$130 smartphone

The Vodafone Smart

UK-headquartered cellular network giant Vodafone has launched a self-branded smartphone running Google’s Android 2.2 operating system that costs less than US$130.
The Vodafone Smart is preloaded with Android apps such as Gmail, Google Maps and Google Talk and will offer full access to the Android Market. It has a 2-megapixel camera, 2,8-inch touch screen, 3G, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support.
Vodafone says the product will be launched in all its markets in the next few months and is aimed mainly at prepaid customers.
Germany and Italy will be the first countries to receive the device.
Vodafone group terminals director Patrick Chomet says smartphones account for more than 40% of the handsets Vodafone sells in Europe.
At Vodacom’s annual results presentation in Midrand on Monday, CEO Pieter Uys alluded to cheaper Android smartphones coming to market soon. He said it wouldn’t be long before a sub-$100 smartphone went on sale in SA. Vodafone holds 65% of Vodacom’s equity.
Operators are keen to drive down the cost of smartphones to help increase demand for data on their networks. 

Telkom’s 8ta to offer per-second billing

— Staff reporter, TechCentral

Telkom’s new mobile operator, 8ta, will introduce per-second billing for prepaid customers from 15 May. Until now, calls were billed per-minute.

“All new prepaid customers will be billed on a per-second structure,” Telkom says.

Calls will be charged at R2,75/minute in peak times and R1,12/minute off-peak, with per-second billing applying from the moment a call is initiated. The rates apply for calls to 8ta customers and users of other mobile networks.

In comparison, MTN charges R2,89/minute, billed per second, to all networks during peak times; MTN’s off-peak rate is R1,19/minute. Vodacom’s basic prepaid charge is R2,58/minute for on-network peak-time calls and R1,12 off-peak. Calls to other networks cost R2,75/minute peak and R1,30 off-peak.

Unlike rival networks, 8ta also provides “free” outgoing minutes to customers receiving incoming calls.

Calls from 8ta to Telkom landline numbers on the new per-second billing plan will cost 65c/minute, also billed per second. This is significantly cheaper than the rates charges by MTN and Vodacom.

8ta prepaid customers on per-minute billing options can switch to the per-second plan. They can also opt for a R1,50/minute all-day rate, billed per minute.

Telkom, which was criticised for charging per-minute instead of per-second rates when it launched 8ta in October last year, is expected to provide details of how well the new mobile network has performed when it publishes its annual financial results next month.

HTC Sensation, Flyer headed to SA

HTC, the Taiwanese handset manufacturer that recently overtook Nokia in terms of market value, is bringing a host of new Android smartphones to SA as it seeks to capitalise on its rapid international growth.

The company has announced it will introduce the HTC Sensation, a 4,3-inch, dual-core smartphone — seen a direct rival to Apple’s popular iPhone product — in June. The Sensation will be available exclusively through Vodacom during the launch phase and, according to HTC’s localy distributor, Leaf Wireless, will cost about R5 300 out of contract.

The Sensation, which TechCentral had the opportunity to take through its paces at Thursday’s launch event, features a dual-core 1,2GHz Snapdragon processor and an 8-megapixel camera that can shoot high-definition video at 1080p resolution. It runs the Android 2.3 operating system from Google.

HTC has also announced that its new tablet computer, the Flyer, will go on sale in SA in the next few weeks. The 420g Flyer, a 7-inch Android tablet, will be available through all local network providers. The tablet market is hotting up, with Apple, Samsung and Lenovo, among others, all take the wraps off new products in recent months.

Of interest to the youth market, HTC has also said it will introduce the ChaCha and Salsa handsets in SA. Both phones feature a dedicated Facebook button for one-touch access to popular social network used by more than 600m people worldwide. Both phones run Android 2.3.

Other devices HTC is bringing to SA are the Desire S, the Wildfire S and the Incredible S — all upgrades to existing products.

Staff reporter, TechCentral

Cell C leapfrogs into fast lane - Times LIVE

Nov 21, 2010 10:58 PM | By Toby Shapshak

Lars Reichelt was a happy man last week. The CEO launched CellC's new data network in Gauteng on the ninth birthday of the cellular network.

A week earlier, Cell C, Internet Solutions and Convergence Partners had agreed to build a 12000km national fibre-optic network that will cost R5-billion. As they like to say in the internet industry, you can never have too much fibre.

From a new cellphone data network to a new fibre company, the last two weeks brought good news for telecoms in South Africa.

Cell C has aggressively built its new data network and offered some aggressive launch prices (though the final prices haven't emerged yet).

Because it previously focused on voice and neglected expensive 3G services, it has been able to leapfrog directly to new, faster technology called HSPA+. Theoretically, this can achieve data speeds of up to 21.6megabytes a second.

"I don't think there is a third operator in the world that has, in 10 or 11 weeks, leaped to the front of the leagues in a very big country," Reichelt said proudly.

"There are not many countries in the world with this kind of population coverage, at that kind of speed. South Africa has become a world leader. There are not many European countries, or [places in] the US, where you get the kind of speeds you are getting here."

Reichelt added: "By the end of 2011 we aim for 97% population coverage with HSPA+. By mid-2011, we want to cover 67%."

Right now, he said, 32% was covered, reaching 34% by the end of the year.

These are bold pronouncements, and Cell C has been able to build its next-generation network for two reasons.

First, you can build anything, and build it quickly, if you throw enough money at it.

Second, because Cell C has previously gone after only voice minutes at the bottom-end, pay-as-you-go market, it had no 3G network. This meant it did not have to sweat its expensive assets, as the other operators have.

Reichelt is a clever CEO who has re-engineered the third network operator as much as its data network. He converted crippling debt to equity. He sold off its cellular towers and refinanced the company.

Along the way, he changed focus from voice minutes to data, the big growth area for networks around the world as data-hungry smartphones become increasingly popular, as do their data-loving apps.

Cleverly, Cell C has gone after the small towns and rolled out its new network in coastal cities such as Port Elizabeth, Durban and Cape Town, before moving inland to Bloemfontein and Gauteng.

Like every geek and tech journo, I have been testing Cell C's network and am impressed with the speeds.

Reichelt showed off connection speeds from the major speed tester to demonstrate how CellC has leapfrogged to the top. In part, this is because it has unfettered access to the 900GHz spectrum, which is better suited to providing data services, requires fewer base stations to provide coverage, and transmits through walls more efficiently, giving a stronger signal indoors.

The test will come when it has more users.

Cell C might be the underdog in the cellphone industry, but, as Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx points out, they are the third-largest customer-carrying company in South Africa, with 7million customers - or 14.5% market share - behind Vodacom (23million, 49.5%) and MTN (17million, 36%).

The good news for consumers is that more competition generally translates into greater choice and better prices.

•Shapshak is editor of Stuff magazine

Mobile data: out of bundle rates compared

by Christo van Gemert, ITWeb journalist
Johannesburg, 18 Nov 2010

Cell C has the cheapest, all-inclusive data bundles in SA, available on its new high-speed HSPA+ network. However, consumers looking to use more data than their bundle allows will pay the highest rates in the country.

While its bundled prices are extremely competitive, the out-of-bundle rate – charges for each megabyte transferred outside the stipulated cap – are the highest. Cell C charges a flat rate of 39c per megabyte out of bundle.

Out of bundle rates

Vodacom has a tiered system for its out-of-bundle charges. Customers on the Vodacom Broadband package will be charged R1.20 per megabyte when on the MyGig 2.3GB bundle, and 50c for those on the MyGig 5GB bundle.

Alternatively, Vodacom's Broadband Advanced offers the same in-bundle and out-of-bundle rates. In this case, the MyGig 2 and MyGig 5 bundles have rates of 19c and 18c respectively.

MTN's 2GB bundle boasts the same out-of-bundle rates as Vodacom: 19c per megabyte. It lacks a 5GB product, instead offering an “Uncapped Lite” bundle with a fair use policy of 3GB. This costs R749 a month, and has no out-of-bundle rate.

Telkom's 8ta also boasts lower rates than Cell C. Both its Internet 2 (1.5GB) and Internet 3 (3.2GB) packages have a flat rate of 30c per megabyte, out of bundle.

Brian Neilson, director of telecommunications research at BMI-TechKnowledge, says the importance of an out-of-bundle rate depends on the type of customer and how much they want to use.

“If they're low-end users, it's not going to matter at all because they'll almost never go out of bundle,” he says, citing research that shows most South Africans don't even use up 3GB of data.

For more demanding users, Neilson adds, that they should be fine “as long as they get fair warning before they go out of bundle, and are able to take advantage of larger bundles”.

Cell C does not offer any bolt-on package to top up a data bundle before the end of the month. The same is true for 8ta. Users have no option but to pay the high out-of-bundle rate, or to purchase an additional SIM card with the cheaper data.

MTN and Vodacom allow customers to top up when their data quota has been met or exceeded.

It's give and take with 8ta | ITWeb

Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town correspondent

According to analysis, mobile newcomer 8ta's per-minute billing makes its offerings more expensive.
While Telkom's mobile service, 8ta, is cheaper for landline rates, its prepaid offering is billed per-minute and not per-second, making its more expensive.

This is according to independent telecommunications expense management company DataRoom.

DataRoom, which helps clients manage their telecommunications expenses by examining their itemised billing, used random samples of typical call detail records (CDRs), or itemised bills.

The rates used were as published on the various mobile operators' Web sites last week and do not take into account changes announced by Vodacom this morning.

The research was done in three exercises. The first related to overall call patterns and was an analysis of 1 400 090 minutes from GSM voice contracts, reflecting the following split: 40.16% of talk time minutes terminating to MTN, 40.34% of talk time minutes terminating to Vodacom, 7.15% of talk time minutes terminating to Cell C, and 12.35% of talk time minutes terminating to a fixed-line.

DataRoom found it was not an effective comparison to calculate the ultimate rand difference overlaid on various prepaid contracts. It also points out that individual call patterns vary greatly and must be contextualised for individuals.

The second exercise was for a sample of 210 CDRs, with the 8ta call rates of per minute increments compared to a per-second rate to mobile and fixed-line of R1.75 per minute, that was billed per second. This exercise excluded incoming rebates offered on 8ta on a promotional basis and SMS costs.

Of the 210 CDRs, 25 were to Telkom landlines, and DataRoom found the R1.75 rate that was billed per-second by the other network operators was 25% more cost-effective than the 8ta rates.

The final exercise was a random sample of 375 CDRs with the 8ta per-minute billing increment, compared to a per-second rate to mobile and fixed-line of R1.75 per-minute, that was billed per-second. Again, the incoming rebates offered by 8ta were not considered and neither were SMS costs.

DataRoom found 8ta was 18% more cost-effective than the R1.75 flat rate comparative.

Call management

Observations by DataRoom were that peak and off-peak times are not transparently displayed on the various mobile operators' Web sites, which makes it difficult for consumers to manage their own call patterns where rates for peak and off-peak differ.

DataRoom says Vodacom, MTN and Cell C reflect the billing increments in their respective rate sheets.

Thirdly, DataRoom says 8ta does not reflect its offering as billed per-minute. “This means that for a 10-second call, you will pay for one minute. This is important to know, as it impacts heavily on the resulting effective rate the consumer pays. This is contradictory to costs being fully transparent to the consumer,” says the DataRoom analysis.

The analysis states 8ta's base cost (without value-adds) is the same as the Cell C Easychat AllDay offering.

DataRoom says 8ta's offering of one free second per call for every three seconds of incoming calls received is only valid for a limited promotional period, but that 8ta has not disclosed the duration of this period.

It says the free SMSes offering by 8ta, whereby 50 free SMSes are granted for every five paid ones, is a new offering to the market and is a significant differentiator for the consumer who uses text a lot.

Commenting on the DataRoom analysis, World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says: “It seems that Cell C do have a point in that 8ta have effectively copied their rates. However, the analysis shows some interesting points, like just how cheap an SMS is for a telecoms utility.”

Goldstuck says his own research has shown that cellular calls billed per-minute are at least 40% more expensive than those billed per second.

Telecoms prices take a tumble | TechCentral

[By Duncan McLeod] SA consumers, used to high prices for telecommunications, must be rubbing their hands in glee. The cost of broadband and voice telephony has begun falling, in some cases dramatically, as competition finally begins to take effect.

At the weekend, cellphone giant Vodacom announced it was effectively cutting its peak-time prepaid rates by as much as 40%. Vodacom customers who subscribe to a new prepaid offering, with a uniform all-day rate, will enjoy off-net call charges between 6 am and 8 pm on weekdays of R1,80/minute. That compares with R2,99/minute on the company’s 4U prepaid plan.

Vodacom’s move came just one week after MTN introduced a similar all-day package for prepaid customers. And both operators were probably reacting to lower all-day prepaid tariffs introduced by their smaller rival, Cell C, late last year. The recent reduction in interconnection rates — the fees the operators charge each other to carry calls on their networks — probably also helped.

It’s hard to know if prices will come down further in the next few months. The operators have tended to shy away from competing on price, though as the market matures and growth slows, they may be more tempted to undercut each other.

Without an aggressive third player in Cell C, voice tariffs probably wouldn’t have come down. Cell C has less to lose than its two bigger rivals in cutting prices. Also, the company, which lacks a 3G network (for now), has fewer value-added options to keep customers sweet. So it has to compete more on price.

An apparent move by Cell C to sell its national network of base stations could make the market more competitive still. The company is said to be in talks with wireless tower operators Eaton Telecom and American Tower Corp to dispose of them in an effort to defray its crippling long-term debt. If the deal goes ahead, and assuming Cell C doesn’t negotiate an exclusive leaseback, then new players will be able to enter the market, leasing infrastructure on the base stations.

Since the market is wide open to competition, anyone could enter as a fourth mobile operator. ECN Telecommunications has already expressed an interest in doing so.

It seems inevitable that competition will drive down prepaid and contract rates further in the next few years.

It’s not only voice calls where prices are falling. In fixed-line broadband, bandwidth costs have plummeted in the past 12 months. Triggered by smaller Internet service providers, the cost of fixed-line broadband — especially for high-end users — has fallen off a cliff in recent months. And the prices are continuing to drop.

Whereas the average selling price of bandwidth on Telkom’s digital subscriber lines was about R70/GB a year ago, it’s now available for less than R10/GB on certain packages from smaller providers.

The bigger service providers haven’t yet followed suit, but I’ll bet Telkom and Dimension Data’s Internet Solutions, the country’s two largest suppliers of bandwidth, will slash their prices within months. It’s inevitable, given the rapid decline in the cost of international bandwidth.

Seacom, the new undersea cable on the east coast, has already brought about a sharp reduction in prices. New cable systems, coupled with investments in national fibre infrastructure, will surely result in bandwidth prices continuing to nosedive.

With the regulator, Icasa, set to begin tackling the last vestiges of Telkom’s monopoly, especially its control over the local loop, telecoms prices in SA could fall to levels enjoyed by consumers in competitive markets in Europe and Asia in the next few years. Now that’d be a turn-up for the books.