Smartphone shake-up in SA from Neotel
Neotel has launched the HTC Desire VC on its network, an Android smartphone that runs on both its CDMA network and has space for a SIM from a GSM mobile operator.
Billing the offer as a “mobile smart landline”, Neotel was very careful about the semantics of the offering.
This is likely due to the fact that as a fixed wireless operator Neotel can take advantage of far lower termination rates than mobile operators like Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and 8ta.
Neotel highlights this as one of the value propositions of their service, saying that NeoSmart “leverages both Neotel’s cost effective landline rates and newly launched FreeCallZone”.
FreeCallZone lets subscribers set up a “FreeTalkZone” for a fixed monthly fee (R49) that allows Neotel users in that zone call each other for free.
HTC Desire VC
The HTC Desire VC is available on a 24 month contract from Neotel on the following packages:
| NeoSmart packages | Neotel minutes | Data | SMSes | Price |
| NeoSmart 299 | 100 | 1GB | 100 | R399 |
| NeoSmart 399 | 200 | 2GB | 200 | R499 |
| NeoSmart 499 | 300 | 3GB | 300 | R599 |
Neotel’s call, data, and SMS rates are as follows:
| Neotel to Telkom | ||
| Call type | Postpaid rate | Prepaid rate |
| Local – peak | R0.34 | R0.34 |
| Local – off-peak | R0.17 | R0.17 |
| Regional – peak | R0.42 | R0.46 |
| Regional – off-peak | R0.29 | R0.29 |
| National – peak | R0.46 | R0.51 |
| National – off peak | R0.33 | R0.33 |
| Neotel to mobile network operator (MNO) | ||
| Call type | Postpaid rate | Prepaid rate |
| MNO – peak | R0.97 | R1.08 (Vodacom, MTN) |
| MNO – off-peak | R0.90 | R0.97 (Vodacom, MTN) |
| Cell C/8ta – peak | N/A | R1.37 |
| Cell C/8ta – off-peak | N/A | R1.09 |
| Neotel to Neotel | ||
| Call type | Postpaid rate | Prepaid rate |
| Local – Neotel | R0.17 | R0.17 |
| Regional – Neotel | R0.23 | R0.34 |
| National – Neotel | R0.29 | R0.43 |
| SMS off net | R0.20 | R0.20 |
| SMS on net | R0.20 | R0.20 |
| SMS international | R1.50 | R1.50 |
| Data in-bundle (per MB) | R0.06 | N/A |
| Data out-of-bundle (per MB) | R0.08 | R0.20 |
| All Neotel to Neotel off-peak free calls from 18:00 to 07:00 weekdays, all day on weekends and public holidays | ||
| Calls to China, India, USU, Canaa, Hong Kong, and Singapore on prepaid are R0.25 per minute; and R1.00 per 10 minutes on postpaid (billed in the first minute) | ||
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