Vodacom, MTN, Cell C and 8ta are fighting for market share in the mobile data market, and aggressively-priced broadband promotions have become one of the biggest weapons in this fight.<\/p>\n
MTN was the latest company to up the ante with its R49 for 500MB and R89 for 1GB mobile data promotions. Both these packages come with a USB modem on a 24 month contract.<\/p>\n
This announcement from MTN came only days after Vodacom announced that its 1GB for R99, 2GB for R149, and 3GB for R199 broadband promotion has been extended until 6 December 2012.<\/p>\n
Vodacom has also launched new \u201cpay-once data bundles\u201d, offering consumers 1GB of data every 30 days for a year at R1,199 \u2013 or 2GB of data every 30 days for a year at R1,999.<\/p>\n
The new Vodacom \u201cpay-once data bundles\u201d compete directly against Cell C\u2019s prepaid Smartdata SIM-only packages, which offer subscribers 2GB every 30 days for a year at R1,299. It also takes on 8ta\u2019s 60GB + 60GB promotion which offers consumers 60GB of data (with another 60GB after hours data) at R1,800.<\/p>\n
The price war in the mobile data market, which was started by Cell C in September 2010 and fuelled by 8ta with the launch of its 10GB for R199 broadband special, seems to be gaining momentum.<\/p>\n
Numerous industry players have indicated that the current promotional prices are well-below cost and are therefore not sustainable, but there seems to be no slowdown in the operators cutting data rates.<\/p>\n
Related articles<\/strong><\/p>\n Lower mobile prices sustainable: Alan Knott-Craig<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Bad news for Vodacom and MTN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Cell C slashes standard data rates<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n