2005-02-09: MTN's Broadband Plans

[rpm]

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/technology/336996-mtn-outlines-broadband-plans.html

Interesting times ahead!

 

[bb_matt]

MTN has not yet determined prices, but he expects the pricing structure to be competitive.

Competitive with who exactly ?

 

[ipodmusicman]

So far my conclusion is as follows: the words "competitive pricing" mean "we will be R1 cheaper than our competitors" and still rip off the gullable public.

 

[VQuest]

So far my conclusion is as follows: the words "competitive pricing" mean "we will be R1 cheaper than our competitors" and still rip off the gullable public.

That is the sad truth about "competition" in South Africa.

 

[martin]

MTN has not yet determined prices, but he expects the pricing structure to be competitive.

Ye old kiss of death

 

[PCW]

So far my conclusion is as follows: the words "competitive pricing" mean "we will be R1 cheaper than our competitors" and still rip off the gullable public.

But that's the nature of business. We just need more and more players in the market.

 

[bb_matt]

We need players with the balls to start a price war.

 

[ic]

bb_matt, that's a lill off - service providers don't start price wars - consumers do that by voting with their feet, service providers only respond by lowering their prices to keep existing customers & luring potentials.

 

[ic]

A mistake, I mean how do you get to a speed of 10MBps on GPRS...

Surely this has to be a mistake:

He acknowledges that at R10 per megabyte per second, MTN's download rates are quite expensive, but prices should drop as data usage picks up.

 

[ic]

“Essentially this means we have a dual bearer strategy that we believe has significant advantages over a purely 3G-led strategy. The whole idea is to enhance the subscriber's experience,” Chellan says.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Vodacom's 3G has a fallback to GPRS feature, so am I missing something or does Josh have his facts up a forked-tongue marketing speak pole?

 

[rpm]

Hi guys

What amazes me is that not one of these companies tries to build up a massive user base with a very low offering. If MTN, for example, brings out an offering for around R 200-00 people will migrate to them in their thousands. While they might make a short term loss, their only aim after building up this large user base should be to remain competitive. People will not leave them as long as they remain competitive, and in the long term they will certainly show larger profits than their competitors. It is further likely that clients will purchase other services (like mobile contracts) from the same company as they support for other services… I wish we could have a forward thinking company entering the market! They will shake things up quickly!

Regards,

RPM

 

[ic]

I agree with you RPM, however there is this thing called The American Dream, now in SA we have The South African Reality, which is characterised by making a fast buck...

Sad but true.

 

[rpm]

South Africa's MTN subscribers jump 21 pct in Q3

While with MTN:
http://www.reuters.co.za/locales/c_...=businessNews&localeKey=en_ZA&storyID=7578109

 

[MaD]

indeed rpm you have a good point and I share your view.. everyone always prices things to high for the masses to be able to afford it so the 'select few thousand' generally are only able to use it, like ADSL. I wouldn't touch ADSL with a bargepole, same goes for MyWireless, iBurst and any other offering simply because they are overpriced for what they offer. There is a magical price barrier with this kind of thing and it seems no one is daring to go lower than R599-R699 per month.

And at R10/MB I don't think MTN has a winner here.. 10 years ago it would probably have been an acceptable price but this is now [size=+2]2005, not 1995[/size].

 

[ic]

Africa's biggest mobile operator MTN boosted subscribers by 21 percent in the third quarter but average revenue per user in Nigeria dipped as it won business in less lucrative markets.

Translation: It is all about the Nigerians again - they have found another way to bleed South Africans dry: force MTN to subsidise Nigeria with over-priced GPRS in SA...

MTN stock is pricier than its closest rival Telkom -- which controls South Africa's biggest mobile firm Vodacom -- on a price to earnings basis, and some analysts reckon it will have trouble sustaining recent gains despite Africa's booming mobile phone market.

Vodacom chalked up a 7 percent increase in subscribers in the quarter to 14.4 million and said last month ARPU at home remained stable although other markets suffered due to rand strength.

While Vodacom, more successful in South Africa but with no foothold in fast-growing Nigeria, has wired up more subscribers across Africa, MTN is the bigger company in terms of revenues.

 

[ajax]

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Vodacom's 3G has a fallback to GPRS feature, so am I missing something or does Josh have his facts up a forked-tongue marketing speak pole?

Maybe Josh refers to the fact that when 3G is up and running, MTN users can fall back on EDGE when outside of 3G coverage (MTN already has 20% of their network upgraded to EDGE), therefore still providing speeds faster than GPRS but slower than 3G. On Vodacom, its either fast 3G with limited coverage, or slow GPRS with 100% coverage.

Now if MTN comes in at price lower than Vodacom, I think they might grab a large segment of the market, i.e. those with EDGE phones looking for faster than GPRS speeds, but not willing to spend a lot more to get a little faster 3G speeds.

 

[bb_matt]

I can just imagine MTN's 3G offering, if it's anything like thier SMS delivery, it'll take 1 hour to load a URL, email will go missing or will arrive 2 days after it was sent !

Seriously tho, all the people I know with MTN contracts bitch about the k@k SMS service.

 

[ic]

...MTN users can fall back on EDGE when outside of 3G coverage (MTN already has 20% of their network upgraded to EDGE), therefore still providing speeds faster than GPRS but slower than 3G. On Vodacom, its either fast 3G with limited coverage, or slow GPRS with 100% coverage.
...

Sure, I know, but the point is whether you have fallen back from 3G to GPRS or EGPRS/EDGE you will either stop browsing until you are back in a 3G covered area, or you will continue bcos you have something urgent to do - you wouldn't be using either GPRS or EGPRS for fun.

 

[ajax]

Agreed, but if MTN can deliver speeds in excess of 200kbps on EDGE, which apparently it can do, what really is the difference between 384 kbps on 3G or 200 kbps on EDGE? I am currently on 64 k ISDN, meaning minimum R300 per month before any calls. If MTN can come in with say R1 per MB or lower on EDGE, I will certainly say bye-bye Telscum! And I am sure there are lots of people like me on dial-up who will do the same.

 

[ic]

It is a game of stringing along consumers, otherwise MTN wouldn't have said a word to the media before announcing their pricing.

We will see what we shall see, cost vs speed vs bandwidth vs customer service & support, that's what the enlightened consumer will base their decisions on.