Lower interconnect rates may mean you pay more

Well MTN. You receive less termination fees, but you pay less as well.

Really now. It's only Vodacom that would lose some interconnect revenue, which really shouldn't be counted as revenue in the first place.
 
dammed if you do.. dammed if you dont...
 
surely Cell c would gain more than lose from this mr knott-craig. I would expects cell c and 8ta to have something to pass on to subscribers.
 
ave said:
surely Cell c would gain more than lose from this mr knott-craig. I would expects cell c and 8ta to have something to pass on to subscribers.
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indeed the current pricing favours 8ta and cell c than Voda and MTN, so i'm a bit (maybe not) surprised that MR AKC is saying this
 
Knott-Craig said that mobile operators lose money with lower interconnect rates, and it is therefore not entirely surprising that they would then hike voice prices to make up for the lost revenue and to keep shareholders happy.
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That's AKC-style thinking right there.
 
.. and it is therefore not entirely surprising that they would then hike voice prices to make up for the lost revenue and to keep shareholders happy.
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Not a surprising statement seeing as it's coming from Mr. Greed himself.
 
ave said:
surely Cell c would gain more than lose from this mr knott-craig. I would expects cell c and 8ta to have something to pass on to subscribers.
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I was told by someone (not 100% sure of it's accuracy) that because Cell C deals with the lower LSM market most of it subscribers doesn't make phone calls but rather receive them. So Cell C is a gains alot from high inter-connection rates.
 
Article should have been called: "You may be surprised to find out that you'll continue to get f***ed in the a**... but you probably won't be"
 
Knott-Craig said that mobile operators lose money with lower interconnect rates, and it is therefore not entirely surprising that they would then hike voice prices to make up for the lost revenue and to keep shareholders happy.

Government and ICASA’s plan to reduce mobile voice prices through slashing interconnect rates therefore backfired spectacularly.
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wtf... The point of lower interconnect rates is to create a wider margin for competitive pricing. If our 2 (and a half) major cellular operators don't see this as an opportunity to 'undercut' the competition to gain market share, perhaps someone should start looking for the shady back-room meetings where the 2.5 cellular 'Cartels' COLLUDE and FIX prices at the expense of the consumer.

AKC should take out the nose-plugs and smell what he's shovelling...

Juice
 
If lower interconnect rates mean we pay more why don't they just increase the interconnect rates to R10/min and then we can pay less. Yay!
 
Seems AKC is the flavour of the month right now... wonder how long this will last!
 
Juice said:
wtf... The point of lower interconnect rates is to create a wider margin for competitive pricing. If our 2 (and a half) major cellular operators don't see this as an opportunity to 'undercut' the competition to gain market share, perhaps someone should start looking for the shady back-room meetings where the 2.5 cellular 'Cartels' COLLUDE and FIX prices at the expense of the consumer.

AKC should take out the nose-plugs and smell what he's shovelling...
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+1. AKC please shut your traphole, and MyBB, FFS, please stop publishing this guys drivel. Do we all need to be informed every time he farts?

“Over time, lower termination rates do stimulate competition and experience has shown that this is the mechanism that drives a reduction in call charges,” Vodacom said.
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It's funny how these fools contradict themselves.

Remember, high call termination rates create a huge barrier to entry for newcomers. Hence why VodaCON and eMpTyN hiked the interconnect rates just before Cell C launched, and why Cell C struggled all these years. Now it seems AKC wants to maintain/create a barrier to entry for newcomers (Neotel, 8.ta, WISPs, Virgin Mobile and NEW newcomers, etc). Very hypocritical indeed.

Also, what is being completely left out of this discussion, is the hammering that the incumbent operators are starting to take from nimbler VoIP providers, especially in the business market. Their profit margins are not as ridiculous as the mobile operators, and their call rates are even cheaper than Telkom rates, thanks to the reduction in termination rates. They have a working business model that the incumbents are afraid of, and rightfully so.

Also SMS revenues are also starting to dry up, as people move to smarter IM platforms like Watsapp, instead of paying the ridiculous charges for sending 160 characters of text. Data is also seeing downward pressure, and if Telkoms network upgrades (MSANs everywhere) are a success, there will be less motivation to use mobile data services.

These guys will do anything to hold on to their dying business modes. What I see coming - Cell C/AKC/Vodacom/MTN applying to ICASA to stop the rate decreases and/or taking legal action and/or some hiking prices and/or something big along these lines. All the drivel coming out of his mouth is in preparation for something bigger. Get us used to the idea. Pump us with enough drivel, often enough, that we start to believe it. We won't be fooled this time.
 
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Year Right! "Keep Stakeholder happy" Vodacom SA makes Much, Much Much more that Vodacom UK, Thanks for Ripping us off!

I wish we had great governance where firms are sometimes force to offer great services to the end user

take Apple for example, the EU forced it to extend it's apple-care for an extra year for all European customers
 
Is this like the time Telkom said they would not do uncapped ever and then they launched uncapped...

SPIN!
 
simbao53 said:
Year Right! "Keep Stakeholder happy" Vodacom SA makes Much, Much Much more that Vodacom UK, Thanks for Ripping us off!

I wish we had great governance where firms are sometimes force to offer great services to the end user

take Apple for example, the EU forced it to extend it's apple-care for an extra year for all European customers
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Informed consumers would be better. People still love vodacom and choose them even though they're so bloody expensive.
 
Government and ICASA’s plan to reduce mobile voice prices through slashing interconnect rates therefore backfired spectacularly.
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Will be interesting to hear if they anticipated this. If they did not, then they were bigger clowns than we thought they were.

ICASA has previously hinted that they may act if the cellular operators do not pass interconnect saving on to consumers, but to date nothing has come of this.
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Next move ICASA. So what now?
 
Bern said:
Is this like the time Telkom said they would not do uncapped ever and then they launched uncapped...

SPIN!
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It's a lot like the time when WebAfrica claimed that uncapped is an unsustainable business model which could never last... and now they're offering uncapped.
 
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