Converged telecoms operator Neotel recently unveiled its prepaid offering, specifically aimed at consumers, but industry analyst have criticised it for being too expensive, lacking choice and being late to market.
The company's prepaid offering sets the voice tariff at 50c per minute for Neotel-to-Neotel calls and Neotel to other fixed-line operators. The rate for calls from Neotel to mobile operators is R1.50 per minute for peak time calls and R1.20 for off-peak calls. National SMS rates are 20c per SMS and data will be charged at 20c per MB.
NeoConnect Lite requires a device, which costs R599 and vouchers are currently offered only in R100 amounts.
While the operator's offerings are approximately on par with those offered by SA's mobile operators, as well as a similar product from Telkom (the Waya Waya service), industry analysts say Neotel's prepaid offering is simply too little too late. “SA has pioneered the concept of prepaid for years now and the South African consumer has come to expect it,” explains Frost and Sullivan industry analyst Protea Hirschel.
She argues Neotel's apparent focus on the corporate market has meant that South Africans have become accustomed to living without a second national operator. Thus, the operator's prepaid offerings are late to market.
“If they had been released three years ago they would have created a stir, but today they are essentially irrelevant,” opines WWW Strategy MD Steven Ambrose.
Not only is Neotel prepaid late to market, but analysts say the high cost of the product makes it unattractive.
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