MTN Uganda Launches Customized Offers on Voice Bundles

Mobile operator MTN Uganda has launched daily voice bundles custom-designed to fit the budgets and communication needs of MTN customers at an individual level. With the new package, called MyPakaPaka, the operator is using each customer’s usage behavior and average spend to craft three 24-hour bundles, unique to each customer. MyPakaPaka bundles cost from UGX 250.00 (US $0.07) to UGX 3,000.00 (US $0.82) for durations varying from 5 to 100 minutes and can be used to make calls to any other customer on the MTN network, valid within a 24-hour period. The package is an enhancement to the existing PakaPaka bundle. MyPakaPaka is available to both prepaid and postpaid customers.   As we have been charting in recent articles, and as Tarifica’s research shows, MNOs are slicing their portfolios thinner and thinner, creating focused offerings that address the needs of very discrete portions of the customer base. This is being done in response to perceived customer demand for flexibility and plans tailored to them in terms of features and price. MTN’s new customized offering in Uganda fits the bill exactly—and takes customization and focus to a new level. Instead of simply creating several plan modifications aimed at the aggregate usage behavior of variously defined demographics, MTN is creating packages that match up with the usage behavior and spending patterns of individual people. Not only that, by making them extremely short-term (micro-offerings with 100 minutes or less valid for 24 hours only), it is responding to the well-known commitment phobia of today’s users. Furthermore, as consumer behavior is constantly shifting, MyPakaPaka bundles can be constantly tweaked to reflect the customer’s needs at any given time—if the offer continues. We think this is a savvy (and low-risk) idea on the part of MTN. Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance. To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com