Published: 17 September 2013

MTN South Africa on Monday issued an ambiguous statement saying it was cutting the cost of international telephone calls to "as little as 75c/minute" to a number of markets across Africa, including Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland.

It’s been widely reported, based on an incorrect reading of the unclear media statement - which omits facts material to consumers - that the 75c/minute rate applies to calls to all of these markets. But a closer interrogation shows that the mobile operator's customers could, in fact, be paying as much as R3,89/minute if they place calls to Zimbabwe.

"We are introducing an offering that would address the growing needs of our customer's to make cheaper calls to international destinations either for business or for personal reasons," said MTN SA chief marketing officer, Brian Gouldie.

The rates compare well to competitors.

Vodacom's cheapest international call rate is 89c in so-called Zone 1 countries, but several neighbouring countries fall into Zone 3, which costs R1.79.

Tourists
On Cell C, the lowest international call rate is 99c to Zone 1 countries, which includes the US and Europe, but Mozambique and Malawi fall into Zone 3 at R1.99. Zimbabwe calls on the network cost R5.59 in Zone 9.
- businessdaily

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