{"id":444135,"date":"2011-06-20T06:33:53","date_gmt":"2011-06-20T06:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/"},"modified":"2011-06-20T06:33:53","modified_gmt":"2011-06-20T06:33:53","slug":"vodacom-cuts-its-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"Vodacom Cuts Its Prices"},"content":{"rendered":"<div readability=\"82.7256862745\">\n<hr class=\"thin clear\" \/>\n<hr class=\"thin clear\" \/>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.poptel.org.uk\/mozambique-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/aim180.jpg\" alt=\"Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)\" title=\"Visit Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>16 June 2011<\/p>\n<hr class=\"thin clear\" \/>\n<p>Maputo \u2014 Vodacom-Mozambique, the local subsidiary of the South African mobile phone group Vodacom, on Thursday announced a 41 per cent cut in its tariffs.<\/p>\n<p>The basic cost for Vodacom mobile phone calls thus falls from 8.4 to five meticais a minute (at current exchange rates there are about 29.2 meticais to the US dollars).<\/p>\n<p>Announcing the reduction at a Maputo press conference, the Vodacom-Mozambique Chief Executive Officer, Jose dos Santos, said this charge was valid at any time of day or night, and from a Vodacom number to any other Mozambican phone network, mobile or fixed.<\/p>\n<p>Previously it was more expensive to make a call to a fixed phone than to a mobile one, but Vodacom has now abolished that difference.<\/p>\n<p>Also the difference between charging by the minute and charging by the second has disappeared. If you make a call but only speak for half a minute, you will only be charged 2.5 meticais, and not the full five meticais. The tariff system has thus been greatly simplified.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is an irreversible mark in communications in our country&#8221;, said the chairperson of the Vodacom board, Rui Fonseca. &#8220;Nothing will be as before&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>He argued that the cut will allow people who previously might have had difficulty paying for phone calls to gain access to mobile telephony. &#8220;We want to open access to communications to all Mozambicans&#8221;, said Fonseca. &#8220;With the introduction of this single tariff, we think we have taken a gigantic step to achieve our goal&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Fonseca and Santos denied that they were trying to drive their sole competitor, the public owned company M-Cel, out of the market, or that the price cut was a form of subsidy from Vodacom-South Africa to Vodacom-Mozambique.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Vodacom Group, with its headquarters in the South African town of Midrand, owns 85 per cent of Vodacom-Mozambique, and is by far the largest source of capital for the company.<\/p>\n<p>Fonseca admitted that Vodacom-Mozambique is not yet making a profit, but said its cash flow &#8220;is positive&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The company had to advance in the direction of cheaper communications. &#8220;We must take a leap forward, or we will die&#8221;, he declared.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, Vodacom launched the cheapest cell phone on the Mozambican market. This is the Chinese-made model ZTE S512, which is selling for 499 meticais (about 17 US dollars). In addition to the basic phone function, this handset also has an FM radio, an alarm clock, games and a torch.<\/p>\n<p>Santos declined to explain how Vodacom could make the phone available so cheaply &#8211; but all importers of mobile phones have clearly been helped by recent declines in customs duties from 25 to eight per cent.<\/p>\n<p>With the price cut, plus the launch of a cheap phone, &#8220;we think that millions of people will feel the difference in their daily lives&#8221;, said Fonseca. &#8220;Many will finally be able to make their first ever phone call&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Vodacom&#8217;s move will certainly put pressure on M-Cel. Currently the M-Cel prices, for customers using pre-paid cards (the vast majority of clients), as advertised on the M-Cel website, are 7.04 meticais per minute for calls between mobile phones and 8.09 meticais a minute for calls from mobile to fixed phones.<\/p>\n<p>M-Cel customers can opt to pay by the second &#8211; the prices are 0.142 meticais per second mobile to mobile, and 0.164 meticais per second mobile to fixed.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<fieldset>\n<legend align=\"center\"><strong>More News on allAfrica.com<\/strong><\/legend>\n<\/fieldset>\n<p>AllAfrica &#8211; All the Time<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read the original post:<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/stories\/201106200100.html\" title=\"Vodacom Cuts Its Prices\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vodacom Cuts Its Prices<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> 16 June 2011 Maputo \u2014 Vodacom-Mozambique, the local subsidiary of the South African mobile phone group Vodacom, on Thursday announced a 41 per cent cut in its tariffs. The basic cost for Vodacom mobile phone calls thus falls from 8.4 to five meticais a minute (at current exchange rates there are about 29.2 meticais to the US dollars). Announcing the reduction at a Maputo press conference, the Vodacom-Mozambique Chief Executive Officer, Jose dos Santos, said this charge was valid at any time of day or night, and from a Vodacom number to any other Mozambican phone network, mobile or fixed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-444135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Vodacom Cuts Its Prices - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Vodacom Cuts Its Prices - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"16 June 2011 Maputo \u2014 Vodacom-Mozambique, the local subsidiary of the South African mobile phone group Vodacom, on Thursday announced a 41 per cent cut in its tariffs. The basic cost for Vodacom mobile phone calls thus falls from 8.4 to five meticais a minute (at current exchange rates there are about 29.2 meticais to the US dollars). Announcing the reduction at a Maputo press conference, the Vodacom-Mozambique Chief Executive Officer, Jose dos Santos, said this charge was valid at any time of day or night, and from a Vodacom number to any other Mozambican phone network, mobile or fixed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/aim180.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Vodacom Cuts Its Prices\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-20T06:33:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/\"},\"wordCount\":574,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/aim180.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/\",\"name\":\"Vodacom Cuts Its Prices - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/aim180.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-20T06:33:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/aim180.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/aim180.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Vodacom Cuts Its Prices - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Vodacom Cuts Its Prices - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"16 June 2011 Maputo \u2014 Vodacom-Mozambique, the local subsidiary of the South African mobile phone group Vodacom, on Thursday announced a 41 per cent cut in its tariffs. The basic cost for Vodacom mobile phone calls thus falls from 8.4 to five meticais a minute (at current exchange rates there are about 29.2 meticais to the US dollars). Announcing the reduction at a Maputo press conference, the Vodacom-Mozambique Chief Executive Officer, Jose dos Santos, said this charge was valid at any time of day or night, and from a Vodacom number to any other Mozambican phone network, mobile or fixed","twitter_image":"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/aim180.jpg","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Vodacom Cuts Its Prices","datePublished":"2011-06-20T06:33:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/"},"wordCount":574,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/aim180.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/","name":"Vodacom Cuts Its Prices - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/aim180.jpg","datePublished":"2011-06-20T06:33:53+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/20\/vodacom-cuts-its-prices\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/aim180.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/img\/static\/publishers\/minibanners\/aim180.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444135\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}