How? MTN vs Afrihost

NeonNinja

NeonNinja

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Wanted an Internet bundle.

Checked MTN data tops on my MTN sim @ *141*6#.
Checked the top ups for Afrihost.
Staggering.

R29 : 75MB
R29 : 500MB

R99 : 500MB
R99 : 2GB

R245 : 2GB
R297 : 6GB (+ R52 for 4GB more)

This is beside the monthly contract of 5GB/R145 & 10GB/R197

Ended up paying Afrihost.

Literally same network.

Why would one continue to support MTN? :confused:
 
Because they offer discounted smart phones on contract. Most people can't afford R8000 for a new S4 or iPhone 5. That's the carrot.
 
Highly subsidized by Afrihost, it is unfortunately one of the truly unsustainable ventures - Kudos to Afrihost for doing this though to promote their Brand *albeit at the cost of actually taking customers "away" from MTN - their backbone provider of choice
 
froot said:
For now. Watch Afrihost take over the mobile phone market too :D
Click to expand...

Afrihost are a blessing to the South African consumer... I can only imagine the boardroom discussions at Vodacom, MTN, et al about their new mobile offering...
 
It's also only a temporary promotion; currently scheduled to end in February next year iirc.
 
smallearth said:
Because they offer discounted smart phones on contract. Most people can't afford R8000 for a new S4 or iPhone 5. That's the carrot.
Click to expand...

I meant data bundle (top up) wise. Of course people will be getting airtime, contracts and other service from MTN.

GazWrack said:
It's also only a temporary promotion; currently scheduled to [-]end[/-] in February next year iirc.
Click to expand...

Try, review.

Afrihost said the pacakge will be available to subscribers until February 2014, after which it will decide whether to keep it or change the product.
Click to expand...
 
Shhh.. don't ask "how", it'll cast doubts - I picked that up in a training course somewhere.

We want Afrihost to keep up the data deals :)
 
We've subsidised quite a bit of the cost, but at the end of the day we really enjoy passing on good deals to all of our clients because we care.


And we're awesome :)
 
AfriGuy said:
We've subsidised quite a bit of the cost, but at the end of the day we really enjoy passing on good deals to all of our clients because we care.


And we're awesome :)
Click to expand...

Kudos for you guys!
Hope this works out according to your business plan & we benefit even more in the future.
 
AfriGuy said:
We've subsidised quite a bit of the cost, but at the end of the day we really enjoy passing on good deals to all of our clients because we care.


And we're awesome :)
Click to expand...


That's unsustainable in the long wrong if you going to subside huge margins like that. I could understand if you were not making any profit but selling it at cost.

Maybe there is way too much data on the network not being utilized fully*If memory serves me correct for the pipeline they pay fixed cost every month, doesn't matter how much bandwidth runs on that pipe.
 
Must say, my latencies on Afrihost is a lot less, than MTN, when doing speedtests from my iPhone 5. Same spot on table. ;)
 
RichardG said:
That's unsustainable in the long wrong if you going to subside huge margins like that. I could understand if you were not making any profit but selling it at cost.

Maybe there is way too much data on the network not being utilized fully*If memory serves me correct for the pipeline they pay fixed cost every month, doesn't matter how much bandwidth runs on that pipe.
Click to expand...

The way we've always approached our business model is too subsidise products in favour of marketing budgets. We could have spent R20 million easily on a TV or print ad campaign. But we'd rather give the value to our clients. After all, who would you trust more: a newspaper ad or a friend who tells you about something awesome?

It wouldn't be sustainable indefinitely, but we hope that we can drive prices down through creating a huge demand, and that we can also keep negotiating better deals on behalf of our clients.

No-one though we could sustain R29 per GB. And here we are just 4 years later at R3.99 per GB.

So we're optimistic. Cautious. But optimistic.
 
RichardG said:
Don't compare MiFi vs iPhone 5 that doesn't gel. Noticed my cell c works better on the MiFi than on dongle. (Must be the latest technology)
Click to expand...

iPhones can generally work with a much broader frequency range than most devices like dongles or MiFis. Also boost a weaker signal by design.

Definitely a very different experience. That's why they cost a gazillion rand :)
 
AfriMan said:
The way we've always approached our business model is too subsidise products in favour of marketing budgets. We could have spent R20 million easily on a TV or print ad campaign. But we'd rather give the value to our clients. After all, who would you trust more: a newspaper ad or a friend who tells you about something awesome?

It wouldn't be sustainable indefinitely, but we hope that we can drive prices down through creating a huge demand, and that we can also keep negotiating better deals on behalf of our clients.

No-one though we could sustain R29 per GB. And here we are just 4 years later at R3.99 per GB.

So we're optimistic. Cautious. But optimistic.
Click to expand...

This ^

I was part of the crew who didn't believe that ADSL @ R29/gb was going to take off. Not going to doubt this bunch again, that's for sure.
 
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