Data price comparison: Vodacom vs MTN vs Telkom and more
In South Africa’s competitive mobile data market, carriers offer varied prepaid plans, with highlights including Telkom’s larger data bonuses and Cell C’s substantially lower cost per megabyte (MB).
Nevertheless, each major mobile network operator in South Africa showcases distinct strengths in data package offerings.
The variances in prices highlight the competitiveness of South Africa’s mobile data market, where providers offer similar data allowances but at slightly different price points.
Factors such as network coverage, additional perks (like free messaging or social media data), and customer service quality influence the pricing as well as consumers’ decisions despite these marginal price differences.
The primary mobile network operators in South Africa include Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, and Rain. Cell C is also a significant player despite no longer owning its own network infrastructure.
Despite ranking 149th out of 237 countries for the affordability of mobile data, according to a report by Cable.co.uk, the market remains fiercely competitive.
BusinessTech conducted a comparative analysis of prepaid once-off mobile data bundles closest to 1GB, 5GB, and 10GB, noting variances where exact matches were unavailable.
When exact matches were not available, we chose the nearest options, noting the differences in brackets.
For example, Vodacom charges R89 for 1.2GB of data, MTN charges R85 for 1GB, and Cell C charges R65.
Telkom offers a 1GB data bundle, with an additional 1GB of Night Surfer data, for R79, while Rain Go offers a 1GB data bundle for R50.
| Carrier | ~1GB | Price per MB | ~5GB | Price per MB | ~10GB | Price per MB |
| Vodacom | R89 (1.2GB) | 0.07c | R259 (4.5GB) | 0.06c | R499 (12GB) | 0.05c |
| MTN | R85 | 0.09c | R299 | 0.06c | R469 | 0.05c |
| Telkom | R79 | 0.08c | R299 (6GB) | 0.05c | R499 (15GB) | 0.03c |
| Cell C | R65 | 0.06c | R199 (6GB) | 0.03c | R299 (12GB) | 0.02c |
| Rain Go | R50 | 0.05c | R250 | 0.05c | – | – |
| Average | 0.07c | 0.05c | 0.04c |
Looking at the different operators, Vodacom stood out for offering plans with slightly more data than advertised in the lower tiers, coupled with competitive pricing per megabyte across all tiers.
MTN’s pricing structure sported competitiveness with Vodacom, particularly evident in their larger data plans.
Telkom offered substantial data bonuses on their larger plans, providing significantly lower costs per megabyte compared to competitors in the 10GB (they offer 15GB) tier.
Cell C stood out for its competitive pricing, especially in the larger data tiers, where it offers significantly lower costs per megabyte compared to other carriers.
Although it does not advertise all of the data packages that other providers advertise, Rain Go distinguished itself with straightforward pricing and a consistent cost per megabyte across all data plans.
Comparison with the rest of Africa
A comparative analysis conducted by MyBroadband showed that the price of mobile data in South Africa is far from the cheapest in Africa.
Of the African countries compared, Nigeria and Kenya offer the cheapest data bundles, with the price-per-megabyte averaging between R0.01 and R0.02.
They are closely followed by Botswana, where the average price per MB is between R0.03 and R0.05. South Africa took fourth place.
Namibia is the most expensive among those compared — and by some margin. Average data prices in the country range from R0.02 to R0.11.
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