Cable & Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) will kick off a new campaign Monday to grab mobile market share, with a big sale on handsets over the next three months, and the expansion of its 'Anyone' suite of products, better known to mobile subscribers as the '10/8'.

C&WJ has cut prices by 37 per cent on average on a selected range of handsets that are currently priced up to $24,500, placing the sale prices between $1,450 and $13,500.

Alongside the discount, customers who trade in their handsets will get an additional rebate of $1,000.

Unexpected rush of 'hundreds of people'

This offer, according to Paul Hamburger, head of mobile services, was sparked by the unexpected rush of 'hundreds of people' on the company last month when C&WJ announced a special sale on handsets during the cricket competition, for which it was a sponsor.

Under the current $10/$8 plan, for peak and off-peak calls, the telecom's bmobile customers are billed a single rate no matter where their calls terminate - whether on the C&WJ network or its competitors, whether to mobile or fixed lines.

Its new 'Anyone Freetime' and 'Anyone World' plans announced Wednesday by president Rodney Davis, expand on the concept.

While he would not discuss market or segment information, Davis said "all future plans would build on the Anyone platform."

For a subscription of $200 payable weekly, Anyone Freetime gives two hours of free calls, 20 free text messages - which are usually billed at $3 on or cross-network - and 20 per cent off overseas calls daily.

Postpaid customers will be charged a monthly $800 for the plan, which will give them 20 per cent discounts on calls to fixed lines only in the United States Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as 3,600 off-peak minutes within the bmobile network only, and 600 text messages.

The plan

Davis insists that the $10/$8 plan is the most affordable on the market, citing big rival Digicel's call-termination charges of $17.70 peak and $15.80 off-peak, while Megafone's rate was tied to handset purchase and was applicable only within its limited network. Megafone is offered by Carlos Hill's CashPlus group.

The Anyone World plan effectively cuts the price of calls from $18 to $14.40, the company said. It will cost a flat $999 monthly and is available only to prepaid customers. It will allow calls to fixed lines only in the U.S., Canada and U.K.

article link