Kevin Nyango
According to the South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) for cellular networks, most mobile operators in Johannesburg are always happy with Vodacom and averagely happy with MTN. Research carried out by managing consultancy Consulta, showed that MTN’s ranking came down from 75.8 to 74.2 points a 1.6 negative deviation compared to 2016 the same as 2015 when it was at 75.6 and was the lowest in the index.
With a total of SAcsi score of 79.2, Vodacom had a positive deviation of 0.3 points as compared to 2016 when it had a score of 78.9 and overtook the 2017 industry average of 77.2. Telecom Mobile was second overall with 3.9 points increase to 76.8 followed by Cell C in the third place with a score of 76.7 a positive deviation of 1.6 points from 2016.
The SAcsi which has been operational for five years now offers a look at the South African mobile network industry through gauging customers’ overall satisfaction. The satisfaction is based on brands exceeding or falling short of customers’ expectations and the responds idea of the ideal product to achieve an overall result of 100.
The sample involved 1183 network subscribers within the pre-paid and contract markets who were selected randomly to participate in the survey. MTN has widened into the Middle East and the whole Africa, but it has failed to attend to the locals in South Africa convincingly. This has given room to brands which are out to make value like Cell C which was founded in 2001 and Telkom Mobile that was previously started as 8ta in 2010 to convince the customers who are keen followers of the product costs and Vodacom has cemented its hold in the premium part.
Telkom Mobile is still reaching out to its customers with it good value offers. Despite the fact that its network coverage is an issue, the customers are still happy with its services in main areas. The moment customers travel outside its coverage areas they change to MTN although the network has promised to expand its LTE network.
