Celtel Kenya launches ‘lowest’ tariff

Mr. Murray, said the introduction of the super off-peak tariff, was in response to market needs. The offer comes only four months after the launch of Uhuru tariffs in December, which allows customers to call at a flat rate across rival networks. “Our goal as a business is to offer value to our customers. Communication is about freedom. We want to continually offer them freedom to call any other network,” said Mr. Murray.

Celtel’s Uhuru Kwa Jamii tariff enables customers to call across all networks at Sh24 per minute during peak time, while off-peak rate is Sh12 per minute. Murray said the Communications Commission of Kenya had made a ruling in February that all operators — fixed line and mobile — shall charge no more than Sh30 per minute to call competing networks by the end of next month. “The CCK directive will rein in on the discriminatory tendency by certain players to penalise customers for calling competing networks,” he said.

Last week, the company unveiled a new number series – 0737 – which Murray said was an indication of positive growth in its customer base. He also announced that the company was engaged in expanding its network to cover over 90 per cent of the country by December at a cost of over Sh10 billion. He said the company targets at least one million new subscribers on its newly launched prefix 0737. He added that despite growing competition, the company’s market share has grown over the last one year. “We have a challenge from our competitors but competition is healthy in any business. We are striving to be at the top,” said Murray.

Murray said the company was involved in various community support activities and will this year, spend Sh70 million to equip primary schools in slums and marginal areas.

He said the move was part of the company’s effort to supplement government’s efforts in ensuring basic education for all. He said the company last year used Sh20 million in supporting ill-equipped schools under its “Build our Nation” programme. “The support includes provision of books to cater for the high enrolment in schools that has put pressure on learning resources in some institutions,” he said.

Celtel’s new ‘Unity’ tariff has something for everyone
Meantime, the Nigerian operation, Celtel Nigeria, headed by Mr. Bayo Ligali is also celebrating gains of its recent introduction of the Unity Flat Tariff. A company spokesman said the introduction has clearly defined “Celtel as the caring company, that responds to the needs of the consumer.” The spokesman who craved anonymity due to “trade practice” stated that “privatisation of telecommunication industry in Nigeria is a big eye opener for both the Federal Government and the citizens. Nigerians are eager to see this transformation replicated in other sectors.”

“The liberalisation has brought with it tremendous improvement in the lives of even the ordinary Nigerians. It broke the myth which had hitherto concluded that telephones were for the rich only. Can you think about a Nigerian within any socio-economic class that does not own a telephone? Have you not seen one with a physically challenged person on the streets asking for alms? The reality is that these people also have families and would wish to stay in touch with them.”

“We think the introduction of the flat rate tariff regime has already won the empathy of most Nigerian consumers as attested to by their responses to our customer care lines. The value proposition goes down beyond the level of the high volume consumer, to even the small business operator, or umbrella operator who makes a living with his telephone,” he said.

He insisted that the Celtel initiative has received very high commendations across various segments of the target market particularly when Nigerians compare the rates they paid in the past with what they are currently paying. “For Celtel, when you are driven by a strong passion for continuously making lives better, you are all the time researching for opportunities to sustain this brand philosophy. Nigerians did not believe this could happen. To wake up one morning and you could tell yourself there is no point carrying more than one telephone, because this is the reality with the Celtel flat tariff plan; it eliminates discrimination across networks, the consumer can make a choice depending on migration plan, which is very transparent.”

Source: Vanguard