{"id":550415,"date":"2006-10-05T12:31:29","date_gmt":"2006-10-05T12:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/technology\/550415-has-virgin-mobile-hit-a-wobble.html"},"modified":"2006-10-05T12:31:29","modified_gmt":"2006-10-05T12:31:29","slug":"has-virgin-mobile-hit-a-wobble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/550415-has-virgin-mobile-hit-a-wobble.html","title":{"rendered":"Has Virgin Mobile hit a wobble?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The three network operators \u2013 Vodacom, MTN and CellC \u2013 share an estimated 29m subscribers and claim and entrenched presence in both the pre-paid and the lucrative post-paid markets, making it a daunting task for any new predator to consider launching in this market. Add to those factors the widely held perception that the SA market is racing towards saturation, it would seem an expensive gamble for an outsider to consider investing here.<\/font> <\/p>\n

Almost 100 days since launching, neither Virgin Mobile SA\u2019s (VMSA) promised radical market shake-up, nor its \u201ctrue\u201d competition virtues espoused by Virgin founder Richard Branson have come to pass. Analysts thus far agree that VMSA\u2019s launch has had no material effect on subscribers. However, those in the know agree that Branson\u2019s brazen propensity to publicly slam his competitiors\u2019 products while touting his own as the greatest alternative is a trademark of the Virgin group\u2019s product launches.<\/font> <\/p>\n

VMSA communications manager Nicholas Maweni says that it has delivered on its promises. Say Maweni: \u201cWhat subscribers in the local market want are cheaper calls, handsets unbundled from airtime and an end to mandatory two-year contracts.\u201d<\/font> <\/p>\n

Unlike competing networks, Maweni says that Virgin offers month-to-month contracts. \u201cIt\u2019s freedom of movement and transparency on pricing that were missing in this market before we came on board.\u201d<\/font> <\/p>\n

Despite Maweni\u2019s upbeat tone, recent media leaks suggest a wobbly take-off for VMSA \u2013 formed from a 50:50 joint venture with CellC, SA\u2019s smallest network operator. Pressed to provide an update on subscriber figures, Maweni declines, saying that VMSA is a private company. \u201cI\u2019ve seen media reports suggesting that since launch we\u2019ve managed to only attract a paltry 15 000 subscribers. That figure is way below our projection.\u201d<\/font> <\/p>\n

He further argues that Virgin isn\u2019t focused on subscriber figures but the quality of its subscribers\u2019 average revenue per user (ARPUs) \u2013 the standard measure for cellphone revenue.<\/font> <\/p>\n

Compared to Vodacom, MTN and CellC subscribers (who\u2019s blended ARPUs are sitting at around R135), Maweni says that Virgin subscribers\u2019 ARPUs range between R290 and R300. With Vodacom, MTN and CellC literally handing away free SIM packs, the cost of a Virgin access pack is R89. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t help to have plenty of non-income-generating SIM cards in circulation. That\u2019s why our target is the high-end market.\u201d<\/font> <\/p>\n

As part of its strategy to augment its distribution channel, Virgin recently added a Durban flagship store to the one already trading in Johannesburg, plus bringing the 700 retail outlets under the Edcon group on board.<\/font> <\/p>\n

With number portability set to take effect on 10 November, Maweni is upbeat about VMSA\u2019s fortunes. \u201cIt\u2019s too early to write us off yet. Rather give us enough time to put our house in order.\u201d<\/font> <\/p>\n

Discuss this article<\/a> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Given the technological sophistication and innovative products provided by South African network operators, our cellular market is by any measure one of the most fiercely contested in Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-550415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550415"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}