Beatrice Wanja
30 October 2008
Kampala — When two or more telecommunication firms fight, the consumers benefit. This has been the case in Uganda as telecommunication companies unveil new products to woo subscribers to their respective networks.
Warid Telecom has now turned to giving additional airtime to subscribers on its network for receiving calls. Subscribers on the network now receive Shs50 worth of airtime per minute for each call they receive from other networks including; MTN, Zain Uganda, Uganda Telecom as well as incoming calls from abroad. The bonus airtime received can be used to make calls to Warid and other networks.
Mr Zul Javaid, chief executive officer whose firm announced the offer to the public through local press on Monday said the move is aimed at helping customers who cannot meet their airtime bill most of the time. "Not everybody can afford to go out buying airtime daily. We are giving our customers bonus airtime to so that they can make their outgoing calls," Mr Javiad said in an interview on Monday.
In a related development, Zain Uganda also introduced the Unlimited Calls, a new service that will see its customers make unlimited Zain to Zain calls between 6am to 6pm after reloading their phones with Shs2,000 worth of airtime. While unveiling the service to the press in Kampala on Monday, Ms Verenar Rugumire, Zain Uganda's marketing executive, in charge of Corporate and SME said the month-long campaign has been introduced as a value addition preposition for Zain customers.
"This will help customers to really manage their operating costs especially if they need to communicate frequently and for long periods during the day," Ms Verenar said. While Zain's new innovation is meant to woo operators of small and medium enterprises and others who depend on communication to thrive in their work. Warid's Incoming Call Bonus is geared towards cultivating loyalty among its customers and strengthening the brand among Ugandans.
"We believe that this kind of product will position us as an innovator. We are looking at establishing our brand in this market and create loyal customers. It will give us the long time advantage to make more money," Mr Javaid explained.
Warid's Incoming Call Bonus closely follows its Mega Bonus campaign that is said to have attracted over 500,000 subscribers pushing the total number of customers on the network to over one million to date. The new products are also expected to attract more customers to the networks in addition to creating customer loyalty.
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