MTC and Cell One are competing furiously and trying to outdo each other in giving best value to customers.

Both companies are offering a number of similar promotions including the free SMS service every Friday, and the new call rate of 95 cents per minute during off-peak hours introduced this week by both companies.

On Tuesday people woke up to big green, black and orange Cell One advertisements in the newspapers introducing its new 95 cents per minute during off-peak hours from 19h00 to 07h00 every day.

A few hours later that very morning, MTC subscribers received an SMS message offering the same product.

Yesterday, the same situation repeated itself - Cell One under the heading 'First Again' introduced its 85 cents per minute fee for the month starting yesterday in a full-page colour advertisement in the newspapers.

And voila! During the day, MTC customers received a similar SMS announcement.

Advertising these promotions has become the norm, with newspapers and television serving as the battleground for these mobile phone companies.

Last year the public welcomed Cell One's entry into the market, saying this would bring much-needed competition into the industry.

Nearly a year on, the two companies are doing their best to outdo each other in wooing customers.

MTC's spokesperson, Albertus Aochamub, told The Namibian that his company was ready for competition and would do all it can to stay on top of the game.

He dismissed the notion that there seemed to be a 'scuffle' between MTC and Cell One.

"What's going on is normal course of business.

We always welcomed competition from whichever quarter it came.

MTC has always been competition ready, and Cell One has launched, but we are not taking it lying down."

He added that consumer choice had expanded and that the Namibian telecoms industry would see more and more innovations.

"MTC will always be bringing new, exciting and innovative products into the market," boasted Aochamub.

Cell One spokesperson Rejoice Itembu called her company the trendsetter.

She said it was Cell One that had started with the free SMS promotion.

"We have always set out to be the trendsetter, first with the free Friday SMS ...Consumers have responded very well to our promotions, hence they are now bigger and better.

"We are cementing our position as the trendsetter and providing proof of our status as the first and leading innovator in terms of new offerings to the market," bragged Itembu.

As the saying goes, only time will tell and the public will judge for themselves which company has the stamina to continue with its promotions.

For now, many consumers are smiling thanks to the freebies.

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