MTN gets "Massive consumer response"

[Debbie]

http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/telecoms/2005/0509020910.asp?S=Cellular&A=CEL&O=E

(Very obviously a verbatim press release btw):

[Johannesburg, 2 September 2005] - A much better value offering to consumers is the main reason cited for the fact that more than 100 000 new prepaid subscribers joined MTN in just two days during the past weekend's MTN Starter Pack value promotion.

 

[antowan]

Reduce the prices and they will come. If each new customer makes just 10 calls MTN earns over 1 Million Rand!

I love good pricing, but if only they can drop their inter operator calls. Somehow I think we are still getting a raw deal from these companies. Reduce all the prices!

 

[antowan]

Lol

 

[Nab]

Sound like MTN are having cash flow problems or want to track customer responses, why the #$^@! must customers buy new sim cards?

 

[Debbie]

Sound like MTN are having cash flow problems or want to track customer responses, why the #$^@! must customers buy new sim cards?

Exactly. It's stupid them aking people buy new sims.

One indicator of loyalty in telecoms is the amount of churn. Churn is basically subscribers connecting and disconnecting their service. The more churn, the more fluid the customers, or so the argument goes. Any telecoms company wants to present low churn figures to their shareholders.

By making customers buy new sim cards, they are going to mess up the reliablity of using churn as an indicator. However, if they are counting on people keeping their existing sim as well as getting new sims, then in effect what they are doing is artificially boosting their subscriber numbers, thus making it look like cellular teledensity is increasing (and therefore that cellphone tariffs are affordable).

 

[jarr]

also from itweb:

To access the price reduction, existing users need to call 141 and follow the prompts to migrate their existing pay-as-you-go price plan to the new one for a R49 once-off fee. New users can purchase an MTN WOW WOW starter pack for R59, which also includes 10 free SMSes per month for 12 months, five free MMSes per month for 12 months, five free callbacks per day forever and R10 free airtime per six months

so tecnically you don't have to get a new sim, but you still need to pay up in order to migrate

 

[Debbie]

Thanks jarr, I didn't know this.