By Mbatjiua Ngavirue
WINDHOEK
Namibia’s long established mobile phone operator, MTC, appears unfazed by the price war new kid on the block Cell One has launched.
Speaking from the Ongwediva Trade Fair, MTC Marketing and Communications Manager Albertus Aochamub said MTC has been competition-ready for the last three years.
“Price competition is however something we will not do as a matter of principle because customers are more interested in value.”
He said the value proposition that MTC offers is that it provides wireless telephony coverage to 95 percent of the Namibian population.
Cell One announced at a news conference earlier this month that the company’s network has so far achieved 60 percent national coverage.
The MTC network, he added, covers virtually all the main roads in the country giving people access to emergency services almost anywhere.
The company’s network also provides service to remote rural communities, and by default to the farming community.
He said that in addition MTC provides a wide range of services that Cell One cannot match, including pre- and post-paid voice services as well as data services.
At this stage, Cell One does not offer any data services although a spokesperson for the company said it hoped to do so soon.
Aochamub pointed out that MTC made Namibia the third country on the continent in which to roll out a 3G/HSDPA network.
“People are prepared to pay a premium to receive a larger bouquet of services.”
He said that taking inflation and other input costs into account MTC had not raised prices for the last four years.
“We have in fact dropped all our data prices across the board with an effective 66 percent. We don’t need to go for cheap gimmicks. We have a tried and tested network.”
He nevertheless welcomed the competition from Cell One, saying it would improve Namibia’s overall competitiveness.
Competition would introduce new solutions into the market that make businesses more competitive and give choice to individual consumers.