Vodacom’s handset hopes to kick butt

THE next phase of the smartphone war kicked off this week with Vodacom going head-to-head against MTN in the battle of operator-branded handsets.

Even the name of the Vodacom Smart Kicka suggested a direct challenge: MTN’s contender is called the Steppa, drawing on the same variety of youth slang and even the same body part.

The anatomy of the devices also appears to be similar. They both have 3.5-inch displays, 2-megapixel cameras and 1GHz processors.

Based on these specs, one could be forgiven for assuming they came from the same factory. However, their routes to market were different. The Steppa is based on a Qualcomm reference design, a template created by the mobile chipmaker in California and made available at no cost to anyone who wants phones manufactured without having to invest in research and development. MTN took the template to a factory in China and added its custom version of the Android operating system.

The Kicka, on the other hand, is built by Alcatel based on specifications laid down by Vodacom. It follows in the footsteps of similar devices carrying the Vodafone brand, namely last year’s Smart Mini and this year’s Smart 4 Mini. Vodafone puts out a tender for its entrylevel smartphones and Alcatel has won the contract for the past two years.

The Kicka is the first phone built under this arrangement to carry the Vodacom brand. According to Vodacom’s chief commercial officer, Phil Patel, it was built specifically for the South African market, but it will also be sold in other Vodacom and Vodafone territories.

Patel says it was not designed to compete directly with the Steppa.

“A year ago, the price of a device like the Smart Kicka was around R900. In South Africa, the majority of people can’t afford that,” he said. “Our aim is to be Africa’s largest internet provider and one of the key barriers to connecting people to the internet is the cost of the device.

“We didn’t see the big traditional manufacturers focus- ing on this area of the market, so we decided to work with our group team to design a device specifically for South Africans. The Kicka was designed to challenge the entry-level price point. It’s a device that offers the latest operating system, good battery life and 4GB of memory for R549.”

The Kicka offers a more advanced version of the Android operating system, namely 4.4, known as KitKat, as opposed to 2.3.5, or Gingerbread, on the Steppa.

The Kicka’s price tag includes five free 50MB “power bundles” — Vodacom data bundles that have to be used within 60 min-

One of the key barriers to connecting is the cost of the device

utes of activation and are designed for use in a focused session of online activity. The size of each bundle means that the user can download several YouTube clips, browse a wide range of websites and engage in general social media activity for an hour at no additional cost.

Once the five bundles are used up, users have to buy additional bundles. The Steppa comes with free access to specific social networks for the first three months.

Priced at R499, the Steppa was a massive success, taking MTN itself by surprise. The stock quickly ran out and the company was unable to replenish it at short notice.

Vodacom is no doubt hoping for a similar consumer response and this won’t be the last of the low-cost smartphones built specifically for the South African market.

Goldstuck is founder of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Twitter @art2gee