19/07/2019. No more old-fashioned postal correspondence. With the constant evolution of technology, this means of communication has been largely overtaken by the efficiency of telephony and the Internet. But for our pretty smartphones to give us the joys of chatting and calling, we first need to choose a network operator, don’t we? Do you know what is the favorite of the Malagasy? Discover in the following lines, the results of this survey on the opinions and choices of Tananarivians on mobile operators present in Madagascar, namely : Telma, Orange, Airtel and Bip.
Table of contents
- Still a quarter of the population doesn’t use a phone
- Almost all Malagasy people choose the “prepaid” option of the offers offered by mobile operators in Madagascar.
- Up to 150,000 Ariary per month just by recharging!
- Satisfaction with their mobile operators in Madagascar
- Customer and commercial service, when subscribers have small problems…
- To conclude this survey on mobile operators in Madagascar
Still a quarter of the population doesn’t use a phone
Nowadays, who doesn’t have a phone? Is that a question that still arises? Well, it is. During this survey of mobile operators in Madagascar, we were surprised to find that 25% of Tananarivians do not have one. As we are careful to question individuals over 18 years of age, the hypothesis that these would be children whose access to a mobile has been restricted by their parents is excluded. That is to say that a quarter of the inhabitants of the Capital are adults who do not use a telephone. The reasons can vary, whether it is by choice, lack of means, etc.
Of the remaining three-quarters, we found that 68% chose the operator Telma. For the others, this choice was firstly Orange (18%), then Airtel (13%) and finally Bip (1%).
If the loyalty of the Tananarivians in a couple can leave you perplexed, we can at least tell you that towards their mobile operators they are. You can testify to this yourself.
We asked them how long they have been customers of their respective operator, so for those of Telma: only 2% are recent subscribers, 16% have been customers for 1 to 3 years, 34% have been customers for more than 3 to 5 years, 23% for more than 5 to 7 years, 6% for more than 7 to 9 years. 7% did not know how to answer us and for 12% of them, their beginnings go well beyond 9 years.
In the case of Orange, recent subscriptions are 7%, 14% for 1 to 3 years, 40% for more than 3 to 5 years, 18% for more than 5 to 7 years, 5% for more than 7 to 9 years, 11% go beyond. 5% could not remember when they started as Orange customers.
For Airtel, new entrants are measured at 8%, those who have been customers for 1 to 3 years are 11%, those for more than 3 to 5 years are 33%, those for more than 5 to 7 years are 23%, those for more than 7 to 9 years are 5%, those who go beyond this period are 11% and those with no clear answers are 9%.
As the “Bip” network has only been present in Madagascar since 2016, all its subscribers have been customers for the last three years.
Almost all Malagasy people choose the “prepaid” option of the offers offered by mobile operators in Madagascar.
As regards the tariff offers offered by mobile operators present in Madagascar, almost all Malagasy use the “prepaid” option. If we transpose this into figures, this fact is 100% true for Bip and Airtel subscribers, 99% for those of Orange and 98% for Telma. For the small remaining percentage, it’s not that he opts for postpaid, it’s just that he uses Telma’s « flotte » offer for business (2%) or simply has no answer (1%, Orange).
We know that there are several types of rates depending on the validity of the benefits they offer. In a minority, more exactly 2%, there are those who prefer to use monthly offers from Telma. There are also those who are more in favour of a weekly offer (4% for Telma customers, 11% for Orange, 3% for Airtel). And then there are those who buy a daily offer (81% for Telma, 82% for Orange, 85% for Airtel) whether it is for calls, SMS or mobile internet connection.
A non-negligible proportion of our respondents stated that they do not use any particular offer (10% of Telma, 7% of Orange, 12% of Airtel and 100% of Bip). This is the category of those who only use an offer very rarely, either their chip is only used in emergencies or they just take advantage of the free options to which they are entitled as soon as the chip is active (e.g. free Facebook, etc.).
Up to 150,000 Ariary per month just by recharging!
We asked our respondents for their estimate of their monthly recharging expenses. For 43% of those who use beep, this figure was between 10,001 and 20,000 Ar. For the other three operators, the results were much more varied.
Some manage to get out a maximum of 2,000 Ar per month to charge their mobile account, as is the case for 20% of Airtel users.
Those who spend 2,001 Ar to 5,000 Ar represent 7% at Telma, 13% at Orange, 2% at Airtel. Those who spend a little more, i.e. 5,001 Ar to 10,000 Ar, account for 30% at Telma, 29% at Orange, 38% at Airtel. Still a little more, 10,001 Ar to 20,000 Ar, for 34% at Telma, 39% at Orange, 43% at Airtel.
Much more significantly, there are some who take out more than 20,000 Ar per month. So those who spend from 20,001 Ar to 40,000 Ar represent: 16% at Telma, 13% at Orange and 43% at Airtel. Those who spend 40,001 Ar to 60,000 Ar are equivalent to : 9% at Telma, 3% at Orange, 4% at Airtel. Those paying 60,001 Ar up to 80,000 Ar constitute 3% from Telma, 1% from Orange, 2% from Airtel.
Exceptionally, there is 1% of Telma customers who manage to pay 80,001 to 100,000 Ar and also 2% of Orange subscribers who pay 100,001 to 150,000 Ar. A very nice sum!
When we asked them about their “dealers” (I’m not talking about drugs but about refills :p), we detected four ways to get credit:
- by buying a card at the local grocery store (Telma: 59%, Orange: 62%, Airtel: 59%)
- by deducting it from your Mobile Money account (Telma: 8%, Orange: 11%, Airtel: 7%)
- by going directly to the “Shops” (Telma: 1%, Orange: 1%)
- via “Taxiphones” (charging points) (Telma: 86% Orange: 87%, Airtel: 86%, Beep: 100%)
You might get a bit lost in these numbers, don’t panic, this was a multiple choice question ;).
Satisfaction with their mobile operators in Madagascar
For ease of understanding, we will establish a small scale to rank customer satisfaction. Thus we will refer to those who are “very satisfied” as S1, “satisfied” as S2, “somewhat satisfied” as S3, “moderately satisfied” as S4, “somewhat dissatisfied” as S5 and “dissatisfied” as S6.
Telma
In the particular case of Telma, the satisfaction of its customers can be broken down as follows: S1 (26%), S2 (29%), S3 (7%), S4 (34%), S5 (2%) and S6 (2%).
Telma’s qualities cited by the first three categories (S1, S2, S3) are the good quality of its network (53%), affordable rates (21%), value for money (13%), expectations met (6%), efficient customer service (3%) and satisfactory commercial service (2%).
The criticisms of the last three classes (S4, S5, S6) are poor customer service (50%), poor network quality (25%) and excessively high tariffs (25%).
Orange
Orange’s customer satisfaction can be broken down as follows: S1 (24%), S2 (29%), S3 (5%), S4 (35%), S5 (4%) and S6 (3%).
The S1, S2, S3 categories praise the good quality of its network (55%), affordable fares (17%), value for money (10%), expectations met (14%), efficient customer service (2%) and satisfactory commercial service (2%).
The S4, S5, S6 classes blame it for the poor quality of customer service (43%), excessively high tariffs (29%), poor network quality (14%) and recharging problems (14%).
Airtel
Airtel’s customer satisfaction is broken down as follows: S1 (21%), S2 (29%), S3 (6%), S4 (31%), S5 (10%) and S6 (3%).
Classes S1, S2, S3 appreciate it for the good quality of its network (61%), affordable fares (13%), expectations met (9%), value for money (7%), efficient customer service (7%).
The criticisms addressed to it by classes S4, S5, S6 are the poor quality of the network (23%), the poor quality of customer service (23%), the poor quality of commercial service (15%), excessively high tariffs (15%), poor quality of service (8%), recharging problems (8%).
Bip
The few people who use Bip say they are “satisfied” with its good network quality.
Customer and commercial service, when subscribers have small problems…
Customer service, you know it? This is the number to call when you have a small technical problem to solve with your operator or when you have a question that is bothering you.
Of course, the frequency with which it is used varies from client to client. There are those who have never thought of calling them, which is the case for 81% of Telma subscribers, 81% of Orange, 80% of Airtel and 100% of Bip. Those who have rarely used them account for 15% at Telma, 17% at Orange, 15% at Airtel. Those who have often and very often dialled the customer service number account for 3% at Telma, 2% at Orange and 5% at Airtel.
The three main reasons they call customer service are then :
- Technical assistance (Telma: 63%, Orange: 47%, Airtel: 47%)
- A complaint (Telma: 38%, Orange: 26%, Airtel: 26%)
- A request for information (Telma: 31%, Orange: 37%, Airtel: 37%)
Generally, many of the customers of these operators prefer to go directly to the Shops. We asked the degree of satisfaction of these customers with the quality of the commercial service provided in these “Shops” according to 5 criteria: clarity of tariff information, courtesy of employees, number of staff on site, opening hours and the ability of employees to solve the problem.
We then summarized the results in tables according to the operator as you can see below:
- The case of Telma:
| Clarity of tariff information | Courtesy of employees | Number of staff | Opening Hours | Ability of employees to solve the problem | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very satisfied | 100% | 97% | 96% | 96% | 96% |
| Somewhat satisfied | – | 2% | 3% | 2% | 2% |
| Somewhat dissatisfied | – | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Dissatisfied | – | – | – | 1% | 1% |
- Orange’s case:
| Clarity of tariff information | Courtesy of employees | Number of staff | Opening Hours | Ability of employees to solve the problem | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very satisfied | 59% | 61% | 63% | 61% | 60% |
| Somewhat satisfied | 37% | 34% | 34% | 35% | 37% |
| Somewhat dissatisfied | 2% | 4% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Dissatisfied | 2% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 1% |
- The case of Airtel:
| Clarity of tariff information | Courtesy of employees | Number of staff | Opening Hours | Ability of employees to solve the problem | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very satisfied | 57% | 56% | 57% | 56% | 58% |
| Somewhat satisfied | 38% | 41% | 38% | 39% | 37% |
| Somewhat dissatisfied | 2% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| Dissatisfied | 3% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 3% |
- For Bip, the few customers who use its network are satisfied in every way.
To conclude this survey on mobile operators in Madagascar
We could see that the stories of mobile operator networks in Madagascar were made up of several criteria. Whether it was tariffs, offers, benefits or customer satisfaction, etc., they were not all the same. It is also normal for customers to be demanding given the astronomical sums they can burn just by recharging.
I, in particular, use three of these operators, but I have been won over by Orange. The funniest thing in all this, as we saw above in the section of offers and rates, is that Malagasy people in the field of telephony are particularly adept at “pay before you consume” :p.
