Telkom last night unveiled its FreeMe packages, which is pretty much an all-you-can-eat buffet of calls, data and text messages. With other operators already having similar products, how does Telkom’s offering sit within the market?
Anthony Seeff, CEO of mobile package analysis company Tariffic, explained that the product range from Telkom will be pretty hard to beat from others – especially since it actively endorses over-the-top services.
“It’s great to see cellphone contracts finally moving in the right direction. While the other operators are complaining about Over-The-Top (OTT) usage on their network (like WhatsApp, Skype, and Facetime services who use networks data but don’t pay them for the pleasure), Telkom is going in the opposite direction and in fact endorsing them – offering packages where the network won’t even make a cent off these services,” he said in a media statement.
Yesterday we reported that Vodacom made 7.5-times more from data and calls than from mobile messaging, so it really is no surprise that Telkom has also decided to go rather data-heavy in its package.
Telkom’s data packages range from 1GB for R99 all the way up to an Unlimited package for R999.
“Data is also the man of the hour and Telkom knows it. Consumers around the world are making less voice calls on their phones and using exponentially more data every year. It’s great to see a mobile operator who gets this and is making data the focal point of a new set of tariffs, while still catering for certain voice usage,” Seeff explains.
In terms of out-of-bundle rates, it is priced at 29c/MB for data, 69c/minute for voice and 30c/SMS – pretty competitive, if you ask us – and Seeff seems to agree.
“It’s refreshing to see Telkom look out for the consumer, and offer a cool 29c Out-of-bundle for data. Yes, this is no way as cheap as adding a bundle but it’s much cheaper than other operators’ comparable rates.”
So looking at everything that the company is offering, is Telkom’s FreeMe packages worth getting? Well, Seeff seems to think that it is certainly good value for money.
“This is an aggressive offering by a hungry player who is nipping at the heels of the big dogs. It will be interesting to see how the market reacts to this. MTN are set to launch a new, flexible package in the near future, and Vodacom don’t seem to have any interest in competing when it comes to the prices of their offerings,” he concludes.
