Nigerian Wireless Network Service Provider, Tizeti, has just launched Wificall, an internet voice-calling service for businesses and individuals in Nigeria.
The subscription based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service allows individuals and businesses to make unlimited calls to any phone number within and outside the country, even if the number is not registered on the platform’s network.
The service which was established to tackle the issue of expensive phone calls on the continent was influenced by improving digital services as well as the popularity of WiFi enabled voice call services such WhatsApp.
To enjoy the service, users have to sign up for the service either on the web or through the mobile app, after which they make a subscription and are assigned a number for their calls.
The monthly subscription charges include – Free (Basic Plan); N6,000 (Basic Unlimited, 1 User ); N15,000 (Business Plan, up to 10 Users); N25,000 (Business Pro Plan, up to 20 Users); and N50,000 (Enterprise Plan, up to 50 users).
And while users might need their traditional data to navigate the app or web, their subscription covers for the calls.
In addition to unlimited calls, the paid plans also offers other enterprise options to users which is not available on its competitors like Skype and WhatsApp. This includes call recording, number search engine and setting of credit limits for users. Although, the use of these other platforms requires no extra subscription.
However, this new service not only pits Tizeti against other VOIP service providers, it could also send it on a collision course with telcos in the country. And that might be an issue for the young wireless firm.
Because the estimated national minimum wage in Nigeria is N30,000, Tizeti’s least paid plan of N6000 is about 20% of an average Nigerian’s wage. This means that while the business plans may seem fair, the individual plan is so much more compared to what many Nigerian individuals use for calls while transacting with telcos.
Hence a pay as you use model like traditional telcos might be in order if Tizeti hopes to disrupt much.
Currently, the service is only available for Nigerians or users with a +234 line anywhere in the world and the startup plans to open it up to phone numbers out of Nigeria in 2020.
Since graduating from Y Combinator’s Winter Cohort in 2017, Tizeti has installed over 12,000 public Wifi hotspots within Nigeria with over 500,000 users. Last year, the startup raised $3 million in a new round of funding and expanded its wifi services to Ghana.
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