Vodacom Tanzania launches per second billing option

4 Oct 03 Vodacom Tanzania has launched a ‘per second’ billing option, placing itself as the first cellular phone operator to introduce such tariff in the country, it has been announced.   “The new option has been commended by our customers as a positive move in the rapidly expanding telecommunications market,” says Vodacom in a statement. All networks in Tanzania have compelled their customers to pay for a full minute, even when they have spoken for a few seconds only, but for Vodacom, this has changed, says Vodacom.   “With Vodacom’s per second billing option, the customers only pay for what they say. If they make a 10 second call, they will only be billed for 10 seconds. To put it in Vodacom’s words, “Talk for a second, pay for a second”.   Subscribers can now talk for as little as US dollars 0.05 per second. When a subscriber makes a Vodacom call for 35 seconds, he or she will have to pay US dollars 0.30 as per minute charge, but when she or he is charged on per second basis, he or she will have to pay US dollar 0.21. “Per second billing is applicable for Vodacom to Vodacom calls as well as Vodacom to other mobile networks in Tanzania and international calls, across peak and off-peak hours, every day of the week,” says Vodacom.   Unlike many other networks that only implement per second billing after the first minute, Vodacom made the decision to introduce charging of per second billing from the very first second, says the Vodacom statement.   In a move to ensure greater flexibility and freedom of choice for the customer, Vodacom have introduced per second tariff as an additional option. According to Vodacom, customers will have freedom of choice over which tariff they would prefer, depending on their call patterns and preference.   “Should the customer find they prefer the full minute tariff after they have changed to the per second tariff, they will have the ability to change back,” says Vodacom. Vodacom has made this possible by allowing the customer total freedom of choice without having to change SIM cards, says Vodacom, adding that this is immediately available to each and every Vodacom customer using their existing SIM card.   “Changing between the tariffs is easy. All the customer has to do is send an SMS to 123 containing the word “SECOND” to change to per second billing or “MINUTE” to change back to full minute billing”, says the statement.   Vodacom adds that: “This SMS is free of charge and the customer is also not charged for the change. Alternatively the customer can just contact Vodacom’s customer care, on 111, who will be happy to assist”. According to the statement, the customer can use this free change option once every 30 days. Vodacom’s research has shown that the majority of customers in Tanzania would opt for a per second billing tariff if given the option, says the statement.