MTN has scrapped its two uncapped data packages and introduced new data price plans. The operator says it stopped allowing new connections on its “Uncapped Lite” and “Uncapped Pro” plans from 1 June. Existing subscribers to these packages will, however, have the offers honoured until their contracts expire.

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 significantly in July 2011, with Uncapped Lite costing R299/month and Pro R899/month.

Both packages were subject to a “fair-use policy” in terms of which speeds were throttled once a certain data threshold was reached. In the case of the Lite package, the limit was 3GB/month, while for Pro it was 10GB/month. Once the limit had been reached, users’ speeds were throttled to 128kbit/s for the remainder of the month.

At the same time, MTN has introduced three new data contracts priced at R299/month, R499/month and R899/month. The first offers users 5GB of data (3GB plus 2GB free), the second 9GB of data (5GB plus 2GB), and the third 18GB of data (10GB plus 8GB). The out-of-bundle rate for all three packages is 29c/MB.

Users who signed up for MTN’s 3GB, 5GB or 10GB data packages in April will also receive the additional free data.

In a dig at rival Vodacom, MTN says it can offer faster fourth-generation (4G) network speeds than rivals — up to 70Mbit/s — because it has “refarmed” more spectrum for the new technology.

MTN launched commercial 4G services in parts of Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban in December 2012.