Telecel Zimbabwe extends the Mega Bonus Reloaded cheap calls promo

To refer to the calls as ‘cheap’ is of course in the context of a Zimbabwe that ranks close to the top on the list of crazy high mobile tariffs in Africa. But yes, the Telecel promo that changed the tariffs game in the local telecoms industry, leading to an ugly chain of competitive – or anti-competitive depending on which side you are – events; accusations, counter accusations, network disconnections, unforced errors, shameless regulator silence, and finally, admonishment. That promo has been extended.

Telecel made the announcement yesterday. The promo, which was expiring at the end of September, has been extended to end of next month. it’s a big deal because never before in Zimbabwe had an operator slashed rates – yes with promo limitations ofcourse – on calls to other networks. Never before because this essentially means sacrificing some margin as the interconnection rate is 7 cents in Zimbabwe. The regular rate of 25 cents per minute slashed by half means the operator is sacrificing more than 50% of their revenue on each call.

The extension was expected. And if you have been in Zimbabwe watching how these promos are implemented, you’d also know either another extension is on the way come end of October, or at the very least a remix and rename of the promo concept. Unless ofcourse some “why are we killing each other” pricing collusion happens in the market!

You can read the full Telecel release here.