MTN mum on LTE pricing

Though MTN wants to position LTE as a service for high bandwidth services such as video, pricing is still undetermined

Jan Vermeulen

September 30, 2012

MTN does not yet have a price range in mind for the Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband technology it plans to launch later this year (2012).

This is according to Serame Taukobong, chief marketing officer of MTN SA, who was answering the questions of journalists at a recent press event held by the operator at its headquarters in Johannesburg.

In his presentation to the media, Taukobong explained how part of their LTE plans were to enable an “enhanced lifestyle experience for MTN customers”.

This included services such as video streaming, live video uploads, gaming, peer-to-peer sharing, and the connected home experience.

Asked if they plan to compete with ADSL in terms of price, Taukobong didn’t answer the question directly, but said that they are keeping the whole ecosystem in mind.

He said that LTE wouldn’t confine users to a specific location and adds a level of convenience not afforded by ADSL.

ADSL data is available from R8/GB on high volume packages. The closest mobile broadband pricing comes is around R15-R20/GB on the promotions offered by 8ta.

Uncapped ADSL has also become more affordable in South Africa with 10Mbps accounts available for between R496 and R1,500 per month.