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Johannesburg - Telecommunications group Neotel announced new consumer services on Monday and discontinued others. The new products are clearly designed to bolster its competitiveness against Telkom in the fixed line voice and internet space, and to introduce price parity between prepaid and contract tariffs - a first for SA, according to Neotel.
The company discontinued some of its high end packages including NeoConnect Prime 10G, 15G and Unlimited, as well as NeoFlex Data 10G and 15G. Neotel said that products such as NeoBroadband Wimax that are targeted specifically at the larger fixed data market provide alternatives to the discontinued products.
The new products offer free calls between 18:00 and 07:00 on weekdays, and all day on weekends and public holidays. An entry level internet service has been introduced at R99 per month with 500MB of free data and 500 SMS messages in the month.
It launched a new wireless home phone at the price of R399 and increased bundled minutes and data allowances on most existing packages.
Neotel CEO Ajay Pandey said that while consumer services are not a priority for Neotel, it is committed to growing that market segment.
"Wholesale and enterprise customers are our primary focus, but that is not to say we are not serious about our consumer customers," he said.
'Nothing to do with Telkom launch'
"We have seen a gap in the market for consumers and have aimed to plug it," he added.
Pandey also insisted that Monday's announcements had nothing to do with the launch of Telkom Mobile, which is scheduled for Thursday.
"We said a month ago that we were testing these new products and at that stage there was no indication of what Telkom may or may not be launching later this week," he said.
Pandey also said that Neotel's products are focused on conventional fixed-line telephony and not on the mobile market, despite making use of wireless technologies.
He added that voice communication remained a priority for Neotel's consumer divisions, even though many consider voice communications to be commoditised and challenging in terms of revenue.
Pandey explained that Neotel was also working to improve its customer service.
"This is an ongoing process and we are confident we are moving in the right direction," he said.
Commenting on the company's clear realignment for the prepaid consumer market, Pandey said that this was, once again, about filling gaps in the market.
"There remains a significant portion of the population who need entry level products. We see a gap for differentiated, affordably priced voice and data offerings, and we believe we are best placed to satisfy this demand as we continue to grow our network," he added.
- Fin24.com
The company discontinued some of its high end packages including NeoConnect Prime 10G, 15G and Unlimited, as well as NeoFlex Data 10G and 15G. Neotel said that products such as NeoBroadband Wimax that are targeted specifically at the larger fixed data market provide alternatives to the discontinued products.
The new products offer free calls between 18:00 and 07:00 on weekdays, and all day on weekends and public holidays. An entry level internet service has been introduced at R99 per month with 500MB of free data and 500 SMS messages in the month.
It launched a new wireless home phone at the price of R399 and increased bundled minutes and data allowances on most existing packages.
Neotel CEO Ajay Pandey said that while consumer services are not a priority for Neotel, it is committed to growing that market segment.
"Wholesale and enterprise customers are our primary focus, but that is not to say we are not serious about our consumer customers," he said.
'Nothing to do with Telkom launch'
"We have seen a gap in the market for consumers and have aimed to plug it," he added.
Pandey also insisted that Monday's announcements had nothing to do with the launch of Telkom Mobile, which is scheduled for Thursday.
"We said a month ago that we were testing these new products and at that stage there was no indication of what Telkom may or may not be launching later this week," he said.
Pandey also said that Neotel's products are focused on conventional fixed-line telephony and not on the mobile market, despite making use of wireless technologies.
He added that voice communication remained a priority for Neotel's consumer divisions, even though many consider voice communications to be commoditised and challenging in terms of revenue.
Pandey explained that Neotel was also working to improve its customer service.
"This is an ongoing process and we are confident we are moving in the right direction," he said.
Commenting on the company's clear realignment for the prepaid consumer market, Pandey said that this was, once again, about filling gaps in the market.
"There remains a significant portion of the population who need entry level products. We see a gap for differentiated, affordably priced voice and data offerings, and we believe we are best placed to satisfy this demand as we continue to grow our network," he added.
- Fin24.com
