The winner of the “no contract, pre-paid data deal” in South Africa is… CellC!

I was looking for a data deal that doesn’t attract monthly charges since I don’t use my iPad away from home very much – ideally, the per MB rate should also be lower than the R2/MB out of bundle rates that Vodacom and MTN offer.

I had my eye on the much-advertised-to-me offer from FNB.  I was prompted to investigate further when I saw a tweet to FNB asking for clarity on the FNB deal (first 50 MB per month at 30c/MB, thereafter 59c/MB).  The pre-requisites for using this deal was listed as “A Vodacom Service Provider contract (excluding alternative service providers like AutoPage, Nashua Mobile, etc.) Or alternatively, any MTN cellphone contract”.
So, if I wanted to take up this offer, then I would need to take up a cheap contract that would attract monthly charges, and then the per MB rate would be low.

Here are the Twitter conversations:
 



 


@TopEditorInt warned against contracts – I tend to agree with that… so, I looked further…


I needed to answer the question: “What was the best per MB rate that I could get without taking out a contract, and where the data wouldn’t expire in a month or two?” 

{
Note: this posting has been updated and edited since it was first published… VirginMobile was my original choice (until I found out the their packages expired after 30, 90 or 120 days), the modified “winner” is CellC
}

So, the search was on… perhaps a small monthly fee for a contract from MTN or VSP (Vodacom Service Provider) with a small amount of data could be topped up with data from FNB?  So, I checked all the web sites and compared them.  Bear in mind, I really didn’t want a monthly fee since I hardly used my iPad away from WiFi for more than once or twice per month.

Vodacom data deals list had “MyMeg 10” deal on offer (90c per MB) – but those aren’t contracts so I wouldn’t be able to topup with the FNB deal :(  These were valid until the end of the following month.

MTN data deals list had “MTN-10MB” deal on offer (R1 per MB)– but those aren’t contracts so I wouldn’t be able to topup with the FNB deal :(

CellC data deals list had “25” deal on offer (80c per MB) – but those aren’t contracts so I wouldn’t be able to topup with the FNB deal :( 
These were valid for 30 days.

8ta data deals list had “100” deal on offer (40c per MB) – but those aren’t contracts so I wouldn’t be able to topup with the FNB deal :(
These were valid until the end of the following month.
VirginMobile data deals list had a flat rate of 60c per MB – but those aren’t contracts so I wouldn’t be able to topup with the FNB deal :(
These didn’t expire! Plus: you get R10 for every R30 used.
Plus: DOUBLE YOUR AIRTIME on your first recharge: That takes the rate down to 26c/MB

You get the recharge amount immediately.  The first 50% of FREE airtime will be loaded within 24 hours.  A calendar month later you will receive the next 50% of FREE airtime. e.g. If you recharged with R300, you receive your R300 + R150 (50% of the first recharge free) and a calendar month later, you’ll receive another R150 (balance of the 50%) free.



So, if you bought R300 for your first purchase, that would get you a rate of 26c per MB – that’s even better than the “special” FNB deal, and there’s no need for a contract and no monthly fees, and no expiring/lost data! 

After the first recharge, the per MB rate goes up to 45c – still not too shabby:


So, the clear winner of this competition is: well…. not so sure any more… Waiting for VirginMobile’s response to my Tweet (see explanation below)
With this hurdle, I decided to look further into the other offerings more closely… and I found this winning deal from CellC: 3GB Valid for 365 days (SIM card only – no modem) for R399 once off!


The CellC offer works out to 13c per MB, R133 per GB, or R33 per month, and 250MB per month – perfect!  I don’t think I’d use that much but hey, what a winning deal!

Comparing this with the original “winning” VirginMobile offer even with the ‘Double your airtime on first recharge’ I would only get 1.5GB at 26c/MB for R400!  So, I will get double the bandwidth that won’t expire after 120 days.

Comparing that with the FNB offer of 30c/MB then 59c/MB – it just plainly blows that out of this universe!



Now, where can I go and get one of those CellC microSIMs from?:  http://www.cellc.co.za/cellc-stores

Oh, and yes, you can purchase CellC airtime from the FNB Internet Banking web site :)
BUT, the 3GB for R399 deal can ONLY be purchased at any CellC shop.


Call CellC on 084 140 (Available 24 hours a day, including public holidays)
Twitter: @CellC
Find your nearest CellC store here: http://www.cellc.co.za/cellc-stores  Remember to take your ID and some sort of proof of address eg: Edgars account, or municipal account.
I wonder how much their MicroSIMs cost? {From comments: R29 incl VAT)

Thanks to the original Tweeters for prompting me to do this investigation!

Please let me know if you have found a better solution to this by adding your comments to this post.


Update 30 Apr 2012: Just got a response from VirginMobile to an email – the MicroSIM cost 99c (not like Vodacom’s that cost R110) and can be obtained from any VirginMobile store.

Update 01May2012 08h00: So, I went into a VirginMobile store and wanted to confirm my findings.  I wanted to confirm with the salesman that the Virgin Mobile airtime didn’t expire… but, to my surprise he showed me a brochure with a table of how long the airtime lasted for before expiring – so, it seems that VirginMobile airtime does expire:

How frustrating – I had done all of this research on the web site (and awarded a “clear winner” to VirginMobile) only to find out of this obscure “expiry period”! 
BTW: I searched long and hard on their web site and couldn’t find any reference to the expiry period – hopefully @VirginMobileSA will reply to my tweet.
So, I decided to rename the title of this posing – I removed the “non-expiring” phrase, so as not to mislead you my readers… and now I need to decide whether to award my winning provider to one of the other networks?
If I decide to go with another network then they certainly will not be the winner of this “competition” – watch this space for my decision…

Update 01May2012 18h45: I have updated the post with further investigations and I have decided to go with the CellC offer – so, the clear winner of this competition is: the CellC 3GB for 365 days offer