Phone companies battle over customers

by Sheron Garraway

It is litteraly the “war of words” as mobile companies Cable & Wireless and Digicel compete for the top prize, YOU the talker. And with the liberalisation of the telecommunications market some 3 years ago, rates have been going lower and discounts have been climbing higher all to the benefit of the customer.

Marketing manager of Cable & Wireless, Aberra Larcher said their commitment to this country’s culture is strong and they show this by being platinum sponsors of Vincy mas 2005.{{more}}

He said that there are numerous promotions during and after the carnival season. They include a rate of 25 cents per minute on evenings and weekends from 8pm to 8am on fixed lines. He said this is the lowest that Cable & Wireless has ever introduced to the market and that has been calculated as a 57 percent drop in their rates on evenings and weekends. He called it a bold step for them and it is part of providing value for their customers. Larcher said the texting promotion would allow customers to download ringtones from local artistes and win prizes. He said in the process the local artistes would be getting royalties for this.

Meanwhile, Digicel’s Public Relations Manager, Jerry George described his company as having the most innovative pricing plan ever in St.Vincent and the Grenadines. He said they have introduced a three cents per minute rate after paying the full rate for the first three minutes of the call. George said that this was introduced a few months ago as a promotion but then realised that it was a hit with customers and made it permanent.

He said that Digicel brought the benefit of new technology in the telecommunications industry to Vincentians and this was something subscribers seemed to like. The Public Relations manager said there is also a loyalty programme, where after every 10 dollars a client spends they earn points and they would be able to redeem those points on the first of October to get a handset. This is additional to what they have been doing all throughout the year. He boasted, “If you meet 10 persons, 7 to 8 out of them would be Digicel customers. We are giving back and that’s one of the benefits of a relationship with Digicel.”