Ethio Telecom levels up phone call rates

(April 04, 2011, Addis Ababa)--In what seems to be a give-and-take marketing approach, Ethio telecom, formerly known as the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation, has created a flat rate for voice calls in all regions of the country.

At the same time it has reduced the off peak hours, in which customers can make phone calls against a lucrative tariff, by two hours a day. Starting last Friday, April 1, 2011, Ethio Telecom charges a flat rate for voice calls nationally as opposed to the previous price rate varying per region. In addition, off peak hours will start at 9:00 pm and end at 7am. This is a reduction of two solid hours from the previous arrangement which went from eight in the evening until eight in the morning.  

Any call from mobile to mobile, mobile to land line and vice versa across regions will cost the caller 72 cents per minute in the peak hours, when the air traffic of the service provider is at its busiest. During the off peak hours, when the air traffic is retentively relaxed, callers can enjoy happy hour air time for only 30 cents per minute. The former rate was 72 cents per minute only for those mobile and land line services in the same tariff zone.

When it was outside it was about one birr and fifty cents. Voice calls between land lines and mobile phones will still be charged on basis of region, according to Abdurahim Ahmed, Corporate Communication Officer of the company and an MP in the Federal Parliament. He said that the rate of land lines has been determined by the Council of Ministers.

Ethio Telecom has reduced the SIM card price to 60 birr from the previous 85 birr with fifteen birr air time but increased replacement cost to 45 birr from earlier fifteen birr, in effect making a profit of five birr when a card is lost or stolen. This price adjustment is being made because of the price of SIM cards and service charges, according to a document distributed to journalists.

The company has also launched the provision of new EVDO and ASDL services for one and four gigabytes for 300 and 700 birr respectively, including VAT. There are nearly seven million mobile phone subscribers in Ethiopia but Ethio Telecom has a capacity to serve over twenty million. Despite their ever increasing capacity, clients have continuously complained about the quality of the network.

According to industry observers, Ethio Telecom has started a systematic marketing strategy to maximize its profit margin. It is known as a ‘give-and-take approach’ because it puts the burden of expenses on the consumer, they said.
Source: Capital (By Pawlos Belete)