Vodacom has reduced the cost of its wholesale bulk SMS products by 20%, from 17,5c/message to 14c. The rate excludes VAT and there are various discounts available for large volume purchases.

The move comes a week after Cell C announced its own reduction in bulk SMS pricing.

Cell C had come under fire from various wireless application service providers that provide bulk SMS services. They argued the operator was offering preferential rates to Cellfind, a subsidiary of Blue Label Telecoms.

Blue Label argued it wasn’t receiving special treatment, but was instead simply benefitting from discounts for bulk purchases by aggregating products.

Now Vodacom has cut its base bulk SMS rate from 17,5c to 14c. Customers who purchase between 25m to 40m SMS messages will qualify for a further 0,5c/message discount to the new rate. Those buying 40m to 55m will get a 1c discount; 55m to 60m a 1,5c discount; and those purchasing more than 60m messages qualify for a 2,5c discount, for a rate of 11,5c.

This undercuts Cell C’s revised rate of 17,5c/SMS, also excluding VAT, for purchases of less than 100 000 messages. Those purchasing between 100 000 and 1m messages pay 17c, while buying from 1m and 10m messages results in a fee of 15c/SMS. Those buying more than 10m messages pay 14c/SMS.