Vodacom has announced a new product called International Calling Plus that allows customers to call 118 countries from rates starting at 89c/minute, billed on a per second basis.
The operator says this amounts to a saving of up to 88% on some international calls. The product will be available from Sunday. The new tariffs are permanent, not promotional.
Phil Aptel, head of Vodacom’s consumer business unit, says late last year the company “tested the waters” with its rate of 89c/minute to 52 countries.
The move came after Cell C slashed the cost of international calls to 99c/minute to 50 destinations. However, the Vodacom offer required consumers to pay a R5/month opt-in fee to enjoy the lower rates.
“It proved so popular that we’ve added three new zones with additional countries priced at R1,19, R1,79 and R2,89 respectively and made it a permanent product available to all customers, whether prepaid, top-up or contract,” says Patel.
The R5 opt-in still applies. Calls are billed per second and the revised rates apply to both fixed lines and mobile phones at any time of day in any of the 118 countries.
Customers who signed up for the previous international calling promotion will be automatically moved to the new package.
Some of the destinations customers covered by the 89c/minute rate include Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Nigeria, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, the UK and the US.
Neighbouring countries such as Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Swaziland fall under the R1,79/minute rate. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
[table id=34 /]