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
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