Cell C Scam or not...you decide

[pricekill]

About 6 months back cellc launched a product called hellosim. this is aimed at the international market.
what is baffling is they charge rates a slow as 30c to make international calls & to make a local call we are paying 4 or 5 times more. how is it possible ?

* people are telling me that they are using VOIP for there international calls ? is that LEGAL for them ? as i understand that cellc,vodacom, mtn can offer ONLY mobile calling and nOT landline or voip. there are providers that have license to do VOIP & if they are to ENTER into cellc's turf (mobile network) will that not be a problem ?

* the point im making is:
why are they offering so cheap international calls & NOT cheap local calls ?

 

[Sysem]

Just my view on it, but if a customer makes more international calls (to clients etc) then this option as a business phone seems like a good idea. They would, of course, need a standard phone for their local calls, but seems worth it in the end.

 

[CataclysmZA]

About 6 months back cellc launched a product called hellosim. this is aimed at the international market.
what is baffling is they charge rates a slow as 30c to make international calls & to make a local call we are paying 4 or 5 times more. how is it possible ?

* people are telling me that they are using VOIP for there international calls ? is that LEGAL for them ? as i understand that cellc,vodacom, mtn can offer ONLY mobile calling and nOT landline or voip. there are providers that have license to do VOIP & if they are to ENTER into cellc's turf (mobile network) will that not be a problem ?

* the point im making is:
why are they offering so cheap international calls & NOT cheap local calls ?

Cell C, Vodacom, and any other telecommunications provider are perfectly within legal means to provide VOIP services for clients who need to make an international call to another country. The local infrastructure here, being based on radio technology, costs a lot to keep a connection going with priority over other voice or data connections. VOIP saves CellC, MTN and Vodacom a lot of cash, so they'd rather route it through that than struggle for years on end getting a proprietary service up to acceptable standards.

 

[Tick]

* the point im making is:
why are they offering so cheap international calls & NOT cheap local calls ?

Because in a cartel's market, prices are set according to what the market will bear, not the cost of provisioning the service. For international VOIP there is competition, for local calls there is not. Simple.

Oh, you mean you think it's disgusting? Don't blame Cell C, all the operators fix the pricing --- it's a cartel, remember --- they're just taking advantage of a situation essentially created by government whereby they have been shielded from real competition.

 

[Synaesthesia]

Voice call prices are still ridiculous. I'm gettin R1.50 on easychat all day, it's among the cheapest and still too expensive!