The new kid on the block, Neotel, has only been operating in the country for three years, but is already giving the national fixed line operator, Telkom, a run for its money. We compare Neotel's NeoConnect 199 package to Telkom's Closer 1 package.

NeoConnect Lite 199

Monthly fee: R199
Telephone and installation costs: R599 with a monthly fee of R99 or alternatively a R199 monthly fee without telephone costs. (There are no installation fees as you can install the telephone yourself)
Smses: 200 free local smses
Free minutes: 1000 free Neotel-to-Neotel minutes per month
Costs per minute: 17 cents per minute off-peak time and 34 cents during peak time.

Telkom's Closer 1 package

Monthly fee: R145
Telephone and installation costs: R468 once off service and installation fee
Smses: None
Free minutes: 30 free peak minutes per month; 60 free off-peak weekend (Friday 7pm ? Monday 7am) minutes.
Costs per minute: 31 cents per minute off-peak time and 43 cents per minute peak time.

Neotel, unlike Telkom, has a per-second billing system, which it claims offers a better overall call rate and its wireless telephone allows for smses to be send.

I've been contemplating installing a landline for some time and decided to weigh our telecommunication giants up against each other. I gave both Telkom and Neotel a call and ordered both packages: the NeoConnect Lite 199 and Telkom's Closer 1 package. After being promised that I would have my telephone "within the next few days" I hung up the phone and waited.

I received my self-installed Neotel phone package within a few days, complete with an instruction dvd, and my telephone was installed by following a few easy steps. I'm still waiting to hear from Telkom. It's been over a month now.