Mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) me&you mobile has performed well in Tariffic’s latest quarterly “perfect package tracker”, offering the best packages in three of five user categories modelled by the company.

Tariffic’s latest quarterly tracker looks specifically at the MVNO market, and considers which of the players — FNB Connect, MRP Mobile, Virgin Mobile and me&you mobile — offers the best deals.

The company analyses the South African cellular market so that it can help businesses and consumers save on their cellphone bills.

Its latest report analyses the new MVNO packages and compares them to the cheapest post-paid contracts available to consumers.

“The results are fascinating, with MVNOs performing better than the network operators in four out of five cases studied, with me&you mobile offering particularly competitive deals on both voice and data,” Tariffic says. “Virgin Mobile, which has gone rather quite of late, also offers some affordable packages for the users considered, while FNB Connect’s new contracts do well on the data side but fall short on voice tariffs.”

The MVNO market has grown significant in the past year, with a range of players launching services on the back of Cell C’s network, joining long-established player Virgin Mobile in the industry.

Me&you mobile’s R300 unlimited voice offering performed particularly well for one theoretical user, Susanne, saving her over 50% compared to the other MVNOs. “It must be noted however that according to the me&you website this package is only available for the first 1 500 subscribers,” Tariffic says.

Me&you mobile also offers extremely competitive call rates, with rates as low as 39c/minute on its high-end packages. And its 5 GB bundle is much cheaper than offerings from other operators which is apparent in the recommendations for user Tshepo.

Even though me&you mobile don’t offer data contracts, its voice contracts with data bundles added on performed very well for another data user, Maleek.

FNB Connect’s offerings, on the other hand, “failed to excite”, according to Tariffic.

“Even though FNB Connect offers some competitive pricing compared to the network service providers, its pricing has proved to be more expensive than the competing MVNO offers for four out of the five users we modelled,” the company says.

“One of the main reasons for this performance in this quarter’s tracker is due to FNB Connect’s very high out-of-bundle call rate of R1,50/minute. However, its data offerings are very priced, with its 5GB data contract being named the Tariffic pick for Maleek.

Virgin Mobile is “still in the game”, it says, although it has “fallen off the radar for some”.

Virgin offers some affordable 12-month and month-to-month packages with Virgin Mobile being the top recommendation for user Howard and second for Chris and Tshepo, Tariffic says. However, it selection of data contracts is limited, and with a high out-of-bundle rate, the overall package for data user Maleek performed very poorly.

Then there’s MRP Mobile, started by retailer Mr Price, which has proven to be a “very niche player in the cellular space with only two tariffs available and a small selection of handsets on offer”.

“It is interesting to note that the standard call rates on MRP Mobile vary from R1,79/minute to 79c/minute depending on whether you take a SIM-only or a handset deal. MRP Mobile doesn’t offer large data bundles, which disadvantaged Maleek’s recommendations.”

In four of the five cases Tariffic analyses, the MVNOs performed better than the best network operator. However, the packages surveyed do not come with phones. “If it’s a phone you’re after, you may be able to find a cheaper deal with one of the networks.”