Cell C’s new standard data tariff plans, which it launched on Wednesday, stack up well next to the tariffs charged by the other operators for identical packages, a comparison drawn up by TechCentral shows.
The mobile operator has cut the price of data bundles to 15c/MB in and out of bundle for both prepaid and contract customers. The rates start at R7,50 for 50MB of data and go up to R3 070 for 20GB of data. Cell C’s new out-of-bundle tariffs are the lowest in the industry and the company is only the second operator, after MTN, to introduce in- and out-of-bundle rates that are the same.
To make the comparison between the operators, TechCentral chose four common bundle options, namely 300MB, 500MB, 2GB and 10GB. For in-bundle rates, Cell C was for the most part the cheapest option, except on the 10GB bundle, where Vodacom beats it with a tariff of 14c/MB and 8ta with 13c/MB. However, in all instances, Vodacom’s out-of-bundle tariffs are signficantly higher: R2/MB for top-up customers, no matter the size of bundle purchased.
It must be borne in mind that these tariffs reflect the operators’ standard fees, as approved by the Independent Communications Authority of SA. All of the operators run promotional deals that offer discounts to these rates, sometimes far in excess of them.
The table below provides a detailed breakdown of the four options selected by TechCentral for purposes of comparison. In cells filled with “N/A”, it means the operator either doesn’t offer a bundle of that particular size, or TechCentral was unable to find pricing information. — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media
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