| The
widely publicised recent legal victory by Cellular Least Cost
Routing (LCR) suppliers means that companies can now officially
use ”Premicell” type devices to carry their fixed
to mobile calls. The correct name for this service is Corporate
Connect, and its main benefit is a reduction in the cost of
such calls by as much as 40 percent, according to the Communications
Users Association of South Africa’s Ray Webber.
”Telkom
currently charges a minimum of R1.82 for fixed to mobile calls,
which gives the caller up to 60 seconds of talk time,”
says Webber. “After this first minute, calls are then
charged at an additional R0.91 for each 30 seconds or part
thereof. This means that a three minute call will cost R5.46
if made using a Telkom line during "office" hours.
This call would cost R4.38 if made using Corporate Connect.
Note that "office hours" is what Telkom calls Rate
Group 1, which is from 07h00 to 20h00, Mondays to Fridays,
and that it differs from their Standard Time which applies
for fixed to fixed calls, which is from 07h00 to 19h00. We
at CUASA suspect that this type of time band complexity and
confusion is intentional – so as to create confusion
amongst callers. There doesn't appear to be any sound reason
for these differences. We will be raising this matter with
ICASA, in an attempt to standardise all networks to a simple
07h00 to 19h00 time band for their lower call costs,”
he says.
”Five
second calls, which tend to occur when one gets through to
a voicemail system (without leaving a message), will cost
R1.82 using a Telkom line to call a mobile number during office
hours. Using Corporate Connect, this five second call will
typically cost only 12 cents. Such a savings may sound petty
to a single user, but to larger organisations with hefty communications
bills, savings can be substantial.
”That
said, actual savings achieved by using Corporate Connect are
not easy to calculate, due to the different billing methodologies
used by Telkom and cellular operators. Telkom continues to
use the archaic method of having a high minimum charge (R1.82),
regardless of the duration of the call. Conversely, cellular
operators typically charge on a per-second basis. This means
that they only charge you for what you use – but the
different methodologies employed means that the calculation
of savings tends to get complicated.
”A
twist and complexity in the use of Corporate Connect was introduced
to the market a few months ago, when the two main operators
(MTN and Vodacom), introduced different tariffs for what they
call "on-net" and "off-net" calls. On-net
calls are calls to numbers on the same network as the "line"
subscription. In other words, a call to a Vodacom number (082
or 072) using a Vodacom line/SIM (Subscribers Identity Module).
Off-net calls are calls to numbers on a different network
to the one used to make the call. In other words, calls to
MTN numbers (083 or 073) or Cell C numbers (084) using a Vodacom
line/SIM.
”This
tariff differentiation is very high (around 55% more), and
results in Corporate Connect users needing to split their
SIMs across at least the two main networks (Vodacom and MTN),
instead of using them all from one operator, as was previously
done when the call costs were the same.
”The
excessive charges to carry off-net calls introduces complexity
into the picture, which generally means more complicated programming
of one's PABX to select a line/trunk to the same network as
the number being called. This is generally feasible at large
sites where a number of Corporate Connect SIMs are being used.
However this is not always the case, such as when the site
only requires one SIM to cater for most of their cellular
traffic or if there is no coverage in their area by the other
cellular network.
”Cell
C does come into the picture, but as they still have a relatively
small customer base, it's not generally too much of a problem
at present. As Cell C obtains more customers, this is likely
to change and will result in increased calls to 084 numbers.
”Using
Corporate Connect does increase billing and accounting complexity,
as one needs to enter contracts for the SIMs and one no longer
merely only receives an account from Telkom.
”Telkom
does offer a discount scheme for high call volumes from fixed
to mobile, which is called CellSaver. It offers a simple discount
percentage on a sliding scale, which ranges from a 22 percent
saving to those spending more than R2 500 per month on these
calls, to a 27 percent saving to those spending in excess
of R50 000 per month. The system is easy to enter into, and
gives a simple discount on each account, provided at least
the minimum R2 500 threshold is reached on fixed to mobile
calls. However, the Corporate Connect savings are generally
better.
”One
aspect to be aware of when using Corporate Connect is that
the calls essentially use two wireless connections - one to
get from your premises into the Cellular network, and a second
to get to the called cellphone. This often means a double
chance of experiencing the poor speech quality which plagues
so many calls on the cell networks.
”Conversely,
Telkom's fixed telephone network is superb. There is essentially
never any clipping, interference or dropped calls. So, using
Telkom's network to cover the first half of the call, does
tend to reduce the likelihood of poor speech quality on calls
from companies to cellphones.
”CUASA
strongly believes that we would all be up in arms if Telkom's
telephone speech quality dropped to the poor levels so often
experienced on the cell networks. It is only the mobility
and freedom of cellphones which makes us tolerate this poor
quality.
”And
it is only the reduced costs which Corporate Connect brings,
which makes us tolerate the even worse speech quality on some
Corporate Connect calls. We at CUASA believe that it is about
time the cellular equipment suppliers and operators got their
act together, and ensured that the poor quality on cellular
networks was the exception, rather than the rule we all seem
to simply accept.
”Having
said all this, Corporate Connect is saving companies thousands
and even millions of Rands every year, depending on their
size and the usage thereof. In addition, we believe that it
is assisting consumers by keeping Telkom's fixed to mobile
charges lower than they otherwise might have been,”
says Webber.
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