By Prince Osuagwu, AniebIet King & Odunayo Adams

In the last ten years since the advent of GSM service providers, more serious attention has been paid to the specific needs of various market segments. MTN, has particularly pioneered custom-built telecom solutions for different segments of the market. The company blew the minds of its customers and the general public with the introduction of its Xtra-ordinary packages in 2006. Others in the industry have since followed the trail.

After stimulating the market several times more since then, MTN again recently rolled out further fine-tuned packages for the benefits of different target segments. The operator upgraded three old tariff packages for three of its target markets on the prepaid platform– Funlink Reloaded, Super Saver and Family and Friends Xpanded.

Funlink Reloaded, which is a service targeted at the youths and low spend customers comprising students, young graduates, artisans etcetera, has been upgraded to give the customers in this segment much more value for their money. It now comes with 40 daily free SMS, free 4MB data, call rate as low as N9 during off peak periods for on net calls, bonus airtime on every recharge. Also, free midnight call is still available on the plan.

A recent survey carried out in some universities shows that the service is catching on in the campuses. Osariemen Iyekekpolor a 300 level student of University of Benin, for instance, thinks the free 40 night SMS introduced in the new package is ‘a killer ‘offering.

According to her, all the information is condensed into SMS messages and sent to key contacts via the daily free night SMS available on Funlink. The contacts disseminate the information among the other students.

For Foluke Adejumo, an indigent student of the University of Ibadan, the free night calls has been a lee way to reach her family and friends. ‘’I don’t have much,and as such, I rely heavily on this service. Another thing I noticed which excites me is the fact that anytime I am able to recharge my phone I am given bonus SMS which means I would not need to wait till midnight to send out messages to friends and loved ones and it is absolutely free” she added

Matthias Uchendo, a spare parts dealer at the popular Ladipo Market, Lagos State said “I use the Funlink Reloaded as well because it is very cheap to maintain. I also love the idea of the free SMS at night. All I have to do is to save the message in my draft inbox during the day and send out at night. This is how I am currently sending out my wedding invitation which means I don’t have to spend money on purchasing bulk SMS.”

For customers who spend long time on the phone whenever they put a call through to someone, they will find MTN Super Saver a very convenient and cheap package to be on. The package comes with a flat rate of N10 for MTN to MTN calls during peak and off peak periods, international calls for as low as N12. Also, the customers get to become members of MTN Prestige club wherein freebies like paid holiday trips, bonus airtime, anniversary bonus etcetera can be enjoyed.

As for, customers who usually make consistent calls to a particular group of people, especially friends and family members, MTN Family & Friends Xpanded has been provided.

The package allows customers to register 8 MTN numbers they can make calls to at the rate of N10 per minute at any time of the day. The customers can also have one registered number from another network and one international number which they can call for N12 per minute. There are no hidden charges and neither are there access fees.

Depending on the needs of the customers, the three new packages provide value.

Considering that the operators are now registering their customers, one can only imagine that this laudable practice will get even better in the days ahead as they are bound to know their customers even more intimately and will therefore be better able to provide them custom-built solutions.