Telcos Move towards Short code Unification

Effective this week, users of Vodafone can now check their credit balance by dialing *124#; just like user on MTN Ghana, and also recharge their account using the short code *134*. Other networks are supposed to adopt and implement so their uses can also check their credit balance with the same short code.

The main aim of this is to ensure that in early 2015; users of all networks in Ghana will be able to access certain general services with the same short code and will not have to enquiry from either call center personnel or other individuals, how to access these services when their change their networks.

"According to Mr. Paarock VanPercy, Director General of the National Communications Authority, the aim of the exercise is to harmonise all short codes for general customer services across all networks. To this end, all short codes for accessing services including Credit Recharge, Credit Balance, and Call Centre enquiries and other such services will be uniform for all mobile telephony consumers in Ghana, irrespective of their network from 8th September, 2014"  Source: NCA

At the time of writing this post, not all Telcos have yet implemented this; but are expected to come on board to support this unification. The services that will be affected include call center, balance enquiry, porting service, SIM registration, Voice mail services and others which are still under consideration.

Below are the proposed short codes that all Telcos will use:

Balance check	*124#
Credit recharge	*134*
Call centre	100
Voicemail deposit	108
Voicemail retrieval	109
Porting service	600
SIM registration	400

TelcoPromo will update you as and when new network operators sign on to this and any other information on the subject, STAY TUNED.

Vodafone Red Offer Vs MTN Life Saver

In this article, TelcoPromo will look at two competing promotions by the two Giant telecommunication networks in Ghana, in terms of customer base; the RED OFFER from Vodafone Ghana and the LIFE SAVER from MTN Ghana.

The Red Offer comes in four different forms, Red Life Weekly, the Red Rush, the Red Hott and Red Classic. All these packages give the user various bundles to call both local (both on – net and off-net) and international numbers, data bundle, SMS bundle that covers SMS to all local networks and other “personal touch” treatment. Unfortunately, the bundle for international calls can be used to place calls to only USA, Canada and fixed lines in UK.

The table below gives in details the various packages that make up the Red Offer.

NAME	CHARGE	ON-NET CALLS	OFF-NET CALLS	INTERNATIONAL CALLS	SMS BUNDLE	DATA BUNDLE	VALIDITY
	Gh₵	Minutes	Minutes	Minutes		MB	Days
Red Life Weekly	5	300	30	5	100	100	7
Red Rush	20	1000	130	15	100	400	30
Red Hott	50	2000	300	50	200	1000 [ 1 GB]	30
Red Classic	100	5000	700	100	200	2500 [2.5GB]	30

In addition to these, all subscribers of the Red Offer enjoy VIP treatment at all Vodafone Retail Shops across the country, free browsing at Vodafone internet cafes, priority treatment when the call the Vodafone call centre and the chance to win tickets to attend any Vodafone sponsored programmes: these make up the “personal touch” treatment. In activating or subscribing to these offers, customers can dial *200# to choose a package.

The Life Saver from MTN Ghana, lacks ‘’the personal touch” relative to the Red offer from their greatest rival in the country. The life saver comes in 5 different combos ranging from Gh₵ 5.00 to Gh₵ 150.00; namely, ₵ 5 combo, ₵ 10 combo, ₵ 30 combo, ₵ 50 combo and ₵ 150 combo. Just like the product from their rival, these combos also offer the user different bundles for local calls (both on – net and off-net); SMS (both on-net and off-net); and data bundle.

The table below gives a highlight of the Life Saver bundles from MTN Ghana.

NAME	CHARGE	ON-NET CALLS	OFF-NET CALLS	ON-NET SMS	OFF-NET SMS	DATA BUNDLE	VALIDITY
	Gh ₵	Minutes	Minutes			MB	Days
₵ 5 Combo	5	50	10	15	5	0	30
₵ 10 Combo	10	150	30	20	10	100	30
₵30 Combo	30	500	60	50	20	300	30
₵50 Combo	50	1000	100	150	50	500	30
₵150 Combo	150	2500	200	250	150	1000 [1Gb]	30

In activating any of these combos, customers can dial *138*4# to choose from the various offers available.

Although an offer may provide a user with a higher value for his money than another, but activating any of these offers is more economical compared to not subscribing to any of the offers. This is to say, a user who is not on any offer pays more for his calls and SMSs than the other who subscribes to a package irrespective of the Network. TelcoPromo will advise that any user who wants to get value for his money should sign up for any of these packages either from Vodafone Ghana or MTN Ghana.

In our subsequent post, TelcoPromo will enlighten you on other packages and offers from players in the Telcommunication industry.

N.B: On-net SMS and Calls – SMS and calls to a user on the same network (eg Vodafone to Vodafone calls)

       Off-net SMS and Calls – SMS and calls to a user on a different network( eg Vodafone to MTN calls)