Cell C clears up SMS pricing uncertainty
Cell C says that all Wireless Application Service Providers (WASPs) have been offered the same rates under its new commercial structure from 1 April 2013.
This announcement came after the Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association (WASPA) threatened to lodge a complaint with the Competition Commission against Cell C in relation to bulk SMS provisioning.
At the WASPA AGM in March, the majority of the body’s members voted in favour of lodging a complaint against Cell C for giving preferential treatment to Blue Label Telecoms owned Cellfind on bulk SMS pricing and a cross-network A2P reply path.
However, Cell C denied that it acted anti-competitively. The operator said that it was conducting a ‘technical trial’ with one of its WASPs which has been successfully concluded.
New Cell C WASP deal
| Volumes per month | Rate per SMS excl VAT |
| 1 to100,000 | R0.175 |
| 100,000 to 1,000,000 | R0.170 |
| 1,000,001 to 10,000,000 | R0.150 |
| 10,000,000+ | R0.140 |
Cell C recently provided WASPs with a new agreement. However, concerns remained that Cell C’s new pricing was still not the same as the Blue Label Telecoms-Cellfind deal.
This raised questions whether all WASPs, including Cellfind, will be charged the new rates.
In response to questions about the issue, Cell C said that all WASPS have been offered the same rates under its new commercial structure from 1 April 2013.
“These rates are subject to change if an A2P interconnect rate is introduced,” Cell C added.
Another contentious point was that Cellfind was provided with a cross-network A2P reply path – a service which was not available to other WASPs.
Cell C explained that the terms of its new agreement stipulate that the activation of the cross-network reply path will be done on request of the WASP.
“Therefore, should Cellfind or any other WASP request for the cross-network reply path to be activated, Cell C shall process this request within 7 business days as set out in the agreement,” said Cell C.
More Cell C and WASPA articles
WASPA Cell C SMS complaint uncertainty
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