From Jamaica Observer

All network $2.99 prepaid one rate sends clear value signal, company says

TELECOMMUNICATIONS company LIME has said that customers continue to be thrilled by the value and simplicity of its Talk EZ Anyone Rate, almost a month after announcing the unprecedented low flat rate of $2.99 per minute for all prepaid calls to domestic and select international numbers, billed per second.

Chief Executive Officer of LIME Jamaica and the Cayman Islands Garfield Sinclair placed much of the success of LIME’s latest mobile value proposition on its simplicity, following its disclosure that it had acquired 20,000 new customers.

“Our improved Talk EZ Anyone Rate of $2.99 per minute to call any number in Jamaica, the USA, Canada and landlines in the UK for one low rate — billed per second — not only makes talking easy, it also makes it much easier for our customers to understand what they’re paying for,” Sinclair reasoned.

LIME was the first to introduce Jamaicans to the low $2.99 rate shortly after the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) moved the Interim Mobile Termination Rate (MTR) from $9 to $5 per minute in June 2012. LIME also moved its cross network rate to a low $6.99 per minute with all calls billed on a per second basis.

Having fought long and hard for the lower MTR on behalf of Jamaican consumers, on June 6, 2013, days after the OUR made another adjustment of wholesale MTR to $1.10 per minute, LIME responded and enhanced its signature Talk EZ Prepaid rate to create the simple rate of $2.99 per minute for all domestic and select international calls.

New subscribers are not required to sign up or activate the low rate; they begin to save the moment they join the LIME network and do not have to opt for the low call rate every 24 hours like some other plans being offered by its competitor.

According to the company, public reaction to the new rate has been very positive as, apart from its simplicity, the organisation believes that more Jamaicans view LIME’s sincere rate reduction as a welcome ease at a time when everything else is going up.

“With this mind, LIME is looking forward to making another positive impact to reverse the trend of inflation to be recorded for the month of June when the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) and Planning Institute of Jamaica analyse the telecoms firm’s considerable price break to Jamaican consumers,” the statement said.

The company said that it is broadening its strong mobile value proposition to satisfy the increasing demand for wireless data communication by offering subscribers one-day access for as low as $50 per day.

The growing popularity of connected devices, LIME said, will drive global data revenues past voice revenues by 2018, and Sinclair said that the company is already detecting the shift in its revenue trend line evidenced by a doubling of subscriber spend on mobile data year-over-year.

“A truly customer-centric business must detect and respond to the changing demands of subscribers who are, more than ever, demanding greater mobility, more data and 100 per cent connectivity from what is now the indispensable tool called the mobile phone. We have the network to deliver on demand,” Sinclair said.

LIME, part of Cable & Wireless Communications PLC, does business in 13 Caribbean countries.

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http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/LIME–Consumers-prefer-our-value-and-simplicity_14598860