Vodacom, one of the leading mobile operators in South Africa is offering its very own Vodacom-branded mobile devices bundled with bite-sized data bundles, as part of its initiative to drive higher data usage among South Africans.
Named 'Smart Kicka', the new smartphone is priced at R549(around USD50) and comes with Android 4.4 KitKat operating system and more than 4 GB of memory. It features a 3.5" screen and a two meage-pixel camera. The device is offered to Vodacom customers with five free 50 MB Power Bundles.
By bundling its smart phone offers with bite sized 'Power Bundles', Vodacom expects to tap on the demand from users who prefer time-based bite-sized packages that allows them to access internet and various applications for a limited time and gives them the flexibility to add to their allocation if the need arises. Vodacom said that it is currently selling around 40 million bundles and quoted prices of R2 for 10 minutes, R4 for 60 minutes and R3 for 50MB of data.
According to Vodacom, its bundling strategy has been effective in driving down the data prices by 30% over the past year, resulting in a 70% increase in its data traffic and a 52% data penetration rate among its 32.5 million South African customers.
"At the moment only 27% of people living in South Africa’s emerging markets have access to smart devices. We aim to double that number in the next year. The Smart Kicka is not only affordable, coming in at around the US$50 level, but also offers the best from a technology perspective. Put simply it gives users the best possible internet experience without breaking the bank. "
“The success of Power Bundles as well as our other bite-size voice services, like Power Hour, has meant that quite literally millions of people are now able to access services that used to be out of reach."
- Phil Patel, Vodacom’s Chief Commercial Officer
