Just hours after MTN announced it was slashing prepaid rates on its One Rate prepaid plan, Telkom’s mobile operator, 8ta, has joined the price-cutting frenzy with new rates that it claims undercut all of its rivals.

The moves by the two operators come just a day before the fees mobile operators charge each other to carry calls between their networks — known as wholesale mobile termination rates — are cut to 40c/minute.

8ta, South Africa’s newest and smallest mobile operator, has announced that it’s simplifying the cost of its 8ta More prepaid plan, doing away with differentiation between peak and off-peak times and giving consumers more value through airtime recharges. The new headline rate, before discounts, is R1,90/minute on per-second billing.

The rate was previously R2,78/minute in peak times and 98c/minute at night and at weekends.

With bonus airtime, this means the operator’s new effective rate is 95c/minute if consumers recharge with R5 or more. Previously, 8ta offered a sliding scale of “free” airtime, ranging from 20% to 100% extra, depending on how much consumers spent recharging. Before, consumers had to spend R50 or more to get double the airtime.

“Reducing the double up offer to start at R5 for prepaid recharges means that no matter how much subscribers recharge for they will get double the airtime,” 8ta says in a statement.

8ta claims that with the double airtime for recharges, it now offers the cheapest effective prepaid call rate. However, MTN claims consumers pay an average effective rate of 88c/minute on its MTN Zone plan, so it’s likely 8ta’s claim in this regard will be challenged.

“We know from subscriber feedback that there are too many confusing options in the market requiring complex calculations around what a call really costs off-peak and on-peak and what various deals mean,” says Telkom Mobile MD Attila Vitai in a statement. “So, I’m very pleased that 8ta is able offer a straightforward flat rate of R1,90/minute. Together with the doubling up of airtime on recharge, that effectively means 95c/minute, which is why we believe 8ta offers subscribers the best value in a way that is clear to all.”