Although the petrol price is on the steady decline and inflation has settled, exorbitant mobile data costs is still a problem. Many people have taken to social media over the past few months to rise up against ridiculous spikes in data bundles around South Africa.
The #DataMustFall movement was aimed at the four main mobile providers- MTN, Vodacom, Cell C and Telkom. Even though this movement received wide support from the public and Icasa, major changes have yet to be made.
But have you ever wondered if those networks are the only way to speak to your friends and family? Well, they are not!
We have sourced some of South Africa’s best mobile data bundle alternatives that are easy on the pocket. So here’s what we found…
Many people still think that the four mobile network providers are the only ones which off data bundles. This, however, is not the case. There are many smaller providers which offer data for a whole lot cheaper.
The only snag with the smaller providers is that the coverage isn’t as broad as the bigger networks. It is advisable to check this, before signing up with these networks.
Besides for the possible limited coverage, the deals that the following four providers are offering is currently unbeatable by any of the bigger providers.
This network provider is powered by MTN’s service which promises to reach across all major towns and cities in SA. The nice thing about the Afrihost data deals is that you can opt in for out-of-bundle rates. This will only cost you 10c per MB.
The following features are included in data bundle packages with Afrihost:
Existing MTN users can use their original SIM card to access the Afrihost network. There are no permanent, long-term contracts. This means that if you want to cancel your contract, you can inform the Afrihost team on the 23rd of the month for the following month.
*For more information about Afrihost, click here.
Although many might know them for their broadband and fibre deals, Axxess does have a great selection of mobile deals.
The nice perk about purchasing data from them is that if you don’t use all your data, it will be carried forward for 90 days.
Not only that, but Axxess promises customers that out-of-bundle rates don’t apply. If you are left without data, simply just top up without incurring overpriced OOB costs.
The following features are included in the Axxess data packages:
*For more information about Axxess, click here.
Neotel customers have the option of purchasing either voice/call time or data packages. These bundles are reasonably priced and all vouchers are valid for six months.
Neotel data is charged at 20c per MB. Data bundles range from 2GB to 24GB for Neotel customers.
*To find out more about the Neotel options, click here.
To some, it might seem like Virgin Mobile has quietened down in South Africa, but that is not the case.
All data bundles are valid for 30 days after the date of purchase. The deals that Virgin Mobile offers their customers are much cheaper than that of other popular data brands.
*For more information about the various Virgin Mobile deals, click here.
ITNT provides customers with a wide variety of different mobile data deals to suit the pocket. Customers are not required to take out a permanent contract with the company. ITNT is a month to month data service provider.
The following features are included in the ITNT data deals:
*For more information about ITNT and their services, click here.
Now that you know a bit more about each of the available networks, here is a breakdown of their prices.
| Afrihost | Axxess | Neotel | Virgin Mobile | ITNT | |
| 50MB | – | – | – | R10 | – |
| 200MB | – | – | – | R40 | – |
| 400MB | – | – | – | R75 | – |
| 500MB | R29 | R29 | – | – | R39 |
| 600MB | – | – | – | R100 | – |
| 1GB | R58 | R57 | – | – | R69 |
| 1.5GB | – | – | – | R200 | – |
| 2GB | R99 | R98 | R49 | – | R119 |
| 3GB | R145 | R147 | – | – | – |
| 4GB | R197 | R196 | R89 | – | R249 |
| 5GB | R247 | R246 | – | – | – |
| 6GB | R297 | R296 | – | – | R369 |
| 7GB | – | – | R149 | – | – |
| 8GB | R397 | R396 | – | – | R479 |
| 10GB | R497 | R496 | – | – | R599 |
| 12GB | – | R596 | – | – | – |
| 15GB | R747 | – | – | – | |
| 16GB | – | R796 | – | – | – |
| 20GB | R987 | R979 | – | – | – |
| 24GB | – | R1200 | R499 | – | – |
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