A Look Back At Communications in 2010
It’s been quite a year in South Africa. From the excitement of the Soccer World Cup to the nerve-wrecking global recession, we have been through some life-changing times in 2010…
3 Communication topics that made the news in 2010 and got people talking
 Cellular Rates Drop - The South African government demanded that the MTN Group Ltd. and Vodacom Group Ltd bring their rates down when it was discovered that the country’s interconnection rates were the third highest in the world.
Subsequently, rates were decreased: Call termination rates were set at 73 cents, in March this year, and peak call rates will be set at 56 cents, from March 2012 to February 2013, and will drop to 40 cents after that.
Icasa councilor Thabo Makhakhe said in a statement: “It is a well-known reality that South African citizens are concerned about the amount of money they spend every month on the basic necessity of electronic communications.”
 Cell C and Trevor Noah Collaborate – Cell C’s controversial marketing campaign recently made media waves of massive proportion. The gist of the campaign went something like this: Well-known South African comedian Trevor Noah wrote to his Twitter fans that Cell C was the worst network ever and that they needed to change their attitude or lose him as a client forever! Cell C CEO, Lars Reichelt, then placed a huge full-page ad in the Sunday Times written directly to Trevor Noah asking for an open conversation as to how they could solve his problem.
Shortly after this interaction Noah became the face of Cell C’s social media campaign and from then on it just grew bigger and bigger, online and offline – it was all over the TV and radio, and large billboards went up, featuring the comedian’s smiling face and “job title” as new CEO (Customer Experience Officer).
Some people were outraged at Cell C’s audacious campaign, which essentially “faked” a disgruntled celebrity in order to get people to go online while using offline media to drive people to go online and make Cell C the best cellular provider in the country. At the end of the day the campaign made the news and had people all over the country talking. What better way to communicate a communications brand!
 Telkom’s 8ta Launches - Telkom launched 8ta, South Africa’s fourth mobile cellular network operator.
Telkom’s Managing Executive of the newly launched Telkom Mobile, Amith Maharaj, said this was the start of a new era.
“We will provide the platform for South Africans to communicate more. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this is the start of a new era in mobile phone communication in South Africa. Consumers will at last have a real choice,” he stated.
He also promised that 8ta products would offer more value than any other network provider.
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