Hi Vodacom3G and others
I am somewhat surprised that Vodacom does not jump at the current opportunity to extend their user-base with competitive pricing. With DSL1024 costing around R 900-00 per month with a 3 GB cap (the standard offering), it makes sense for Vodacom to drop their data rate to below R 300-00 per GB, which means that they will be cheaper and faster than ADSL. It will make the advertising campaigns easier, and users will most likely be willing to sign a 24 month contract for such a service. There are also currently many frustrated ADSL customers waiting for ADSL…an easy market to capture if the product is priced and marketed correctly.
This window is however shrinking as ADSL price reductions are looming, which means even more drastic price reductions will be needed to capture the same market share. And then the SNO’s services are on the horizon and ADSL coverage is improving all the time.
I can only assume that Vodacom is concerned about their network’s performance or that the MBA’s are conservative regarding their current user base’s revenue with such a price reduction. There are however ways around it. How about R 400-00 per GB, and then buy two and get one free? This will encourage higher ARPU as well as compete favorably with DSL1024.
I personally think the Vodafone NZ example should be followed (under R 200-00 per Gig). Vodacom will quickly become the dominant force in the broadband environment, and with the cost of BW coming down all the time the profits will come in future. Local users’ willingness to sign 24 month contracts makes it a very logical move in the current environment, but maybe I am missing something.
Regards,
RPM
