Telkom launched its mobile service 8ta on 18 October, and signed up 186,033 new subscribers in the first month
This is REALLY impressive. Compare this to Virgin Mobile - an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) piggybacking off Cell C's network. In the 3-4 years that they've been running, they haven't even reached 500,000 subscribers as yet. They didn't even have their own network, and didn't have to worry about the costs of maintaining their network, infrastructure, base stations, backhaul, interconnect, peering, hiring and managing of technical staff, etc, and yet their subscriber numbers are still dismal.
So well done to 8.ta.
To do this in the first month with no brand awareness and less than 10% coverage of Vodacom or MTN is eyebrow-raising good.
That's not true. 8.ta have a national roaming agreement with MTN (much like Cell C has with Vodacom). So 8.ta has countrywide coverage, the same as MTN, and perhaps even better, if you take into account their own base stations. Eventually they would want to carry most if not all of their traffic on their own network, to reduce the bill they pay to MTN.
8.ta have also had a very extensive marketing campaign. Their TV, Radio, Magazine, Newspaper, and Internet marketing campaign was/is huge, and generated lots of hype with the whole HEITA campaign, even before launch. They had/have tons of brand awareness. There are very few people who have not heard of 8.ta, and these would be the type who mostly live in caves.
This is really great work from Telkom - refreshing, catchy, great pricing, and definitely very modern, Web 2.0-ish. Not like Telkom's regular business, whose mentality is still stuck in the 1980s. Perhaps all this will eventually spill over into their fixed line and ADSL business, once they've learned a thing or 2 about how to market themselves, improve customer service, and deal with competition.
...... Telkom today announced that by 18 November 2010 8ta had signed up 186,033 new customers, all of whom comply with RICA.
Surely this fact needn't have been included - you can't buy & thereafter start using a SIM these days without being able to comply with RICA.
Actually the fact that their entire subscriber base is RICA compliant is quite important. Vodacom, MTN and Cell C have large numbers of subscribers who not yet RICA-compliant, and the cost to get them RICAd is huge. Either they will lose the subscriber when the RICA deadline finally comes, or they will have to invest more in incentivising their subscribers to get RICAd. With the constant delaying of the deadline, their sames to be no urgency or motivation for subscribers to RICA themselves.
8.ta don't have to worry about this, and it is a huge up-front saving they are making. I think it is definitely worth the mention.
