Cell C has upped the ante with rival Telkom, slashing the price of fixed LTE packages to an effective less than 1c/MB on new high-end plans.

The company has introduced five new promotional contract LTE packages aimed at home, home office and small business users that are designed to compete head-on with fixed-line alternatives as well as Telkom’s aggressively priced fixed LTE plans.

“Cell C is entering the market with its first range of broadband offers, designed specifically for the home and home office as a fixed broadband alternative,” said CEO Jose Dos Santos.

The new LTE “Power Plans” include 15GB at R299/month, 25GB for R499/month and 50GB for R699/month.

For big data users, Cell C has launched 100GB and 200GB packages for R999 and R1 499 respectively.

These prices compare favourably to Telkom’s aggressively priced fixed-wireless LTE plans.

The company said it has more than 2 200 LTE base stations across the country and offers LTE-Advanced coverage in parts of Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg.

“Investment in LTE and LTE-A continues in Kwa-Zulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and other regions and will be completed in due course,” it said in a statement.

“Our efforts over the last few years have been focused on rolling out a highly-advanced data network offering LTE and LTE-A services to keep up with the growing demands of a connected South Africa,” said Cell C CEO Jose Dos Santos in the statement.

While the LTE Power Plans are 24-month contracts, should a customer wish to cancel for any reason, only 30 days’ notice will be required. No cancellation fees will apply, Cell C said.

The LTE products are designed as a fixed LTE solution and will be restricted to LTE data usage only. Customers will not be able to use the product on Cell C’s 2G or 3G network or make calls.

Cell C is also adding a new promotional prepaid data product to its range of SmartData plans. The new Giga200 costs R1 599 once-off and will provide 200GB of anytime data on any of Cell C’s data networks, valid for one year.