From 1 October until the end of January, MTN customers subscribed to its uncapped data packages will not be subjected to speed restrictions when they exceed “fair-use” limits, the cellular network operator has confirmed.

MTN first introduced its “Uncapped Lite” and “Uncapped Pro” contracts in 2010, priced at R749/month and R1 999/month respectively. It reduced the prices in July, with uncapped Lite now costing R299/month and Pro R899/month.

Both packages have been subject to throttling once a certain amount of data is used. In the case of the Lite package the limit is 3GB/month; for the Pro package it is 10GB. Once the limit has been reached, users’ speeds are throttled to 128kbit/s for the remainder of the month.

But an MTN spokesman has confirmed to TechCentral that subscribers to these two packages will receive uncapped and unthrottled data for four months, starting next month.

An MTN spokesman, who asks not to be named because the company is yet to issue a statement on the promotion, says the company runs summertime deals under the “Yello Summer” branding and that this year it has “simply aligned the unlimited Internet promotion to this campaign”. It appears likely the company is keen to test the impact of uncapped and unthrottled data products on its network.

The spokesman won’t say if the promotion will be extended beyond the end of January. “At this stage, MTN has no plans to make this a permanent offering,” he says. “However, we will continue to monitor our customers’ feedback and evolving needs. Should there be a high demand for such unlimited Internet offering, MTN will again respond to the needs of our customers.”

However, MTN emphasises that the fair-use policy is required to “control users who tend to download large files continuously and thereby negatively impact the experience of other users”.

“The product is designed around having uncapped Internet browsing and access to social networking,” the spokesman says. “It is not intended for peer-to-peer traffic.”

MTN says users already on the Uncapped Lite and Pro packages will benefit from the promotion. However, as the only difference between the packages has been the amount of data available before throttling occurs, users subscribed to the Pro package will pay R600 more for an identical service to the Lite package during the promotional period. — Craig Wilson, TechCentral