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Cell C has helped tremendously to reduce the cost of mobile broadband in South Africa. This is about to change because they are increasing their pricing from1 November and ending their promotions which offered bandwidth as low as R0.07 and on prepaid options. Before the speed stick contracts were the norm for3G/mobile broadband.
There is nothing like breaking trust then playing on three pillars of technology terrorism: complexity, confusion and conflict. Let’s see how Cell C does the opposite of all the goodwill they built up during 2010/2011.
Complexity
The average man on the street does not understand the difference between GPRS or GPS. The Internet industry and now mobile is essentially included, is a complex industry. There is the back end managed by highly skilled technicians and engineers, there is the front end managed by call centres and a vast network of branches across the country. Who do you call when your Internet is not working? It could be your laptop, you ISP, your usb modem or a host of other issues.
Confusion
What options you chose is determined by the level of complexity you can handle. For years now I have advocated simplicity. One way of doing this is top stop upgrading your phone, your laptop or software whenever a new version comes out. The more options there are, the more confused you are bound to be. To avoid this, stick to what you have because in most cases it’ll suffice. There is no need to get the latest version of the iPhone or Windows7 because WindowsXP still works very well on the PC I am using to write this, and it’s 10 years old 😉
Conflict
There is bound to be conflict. Ignorant customers or world-be customers, who are now used the special pricing model is bound to be shocked when they discover the new pricing on 1 November. This and dissatisfaction from more technically inclined customers will lead to an increase in customer service issues and probably overload the call centres during November. Cell C staff will hate their management, especially the former CEO, , who left recently and was responsible for introducing many new innovations.
Anyway there’s more to this than meets the eye. And I only wish there was more consistency with pricing and products.
How do you feel about Cell C’s price increases? Will you stay or move to 8ta?
the biggest issue i have with any of these service providers is the availability of their supposedly fast networks. i struggle to get good reception in Randburg, where i live. it can be frustrating at times. CellC at least allowed us the option to buy our data airtime over 12 months in advanced. surely this prepaid purchase is not affected? 8ta and the others rely too much on contracts. i shy away from them.
And what about the average woman on the street, Ramon? Or do you only write for men?
What about average woman? Who do you believe I write for on my blog?