MTN LTE enabled for pre-paid customers

[Kevin Lancaster]

MTN LTE now on pre-paid

MTN has finally enabled access to its Long Term Evolution network for pre-paid subscribers

 

[Mo0s]

Lol, shame poor Cell C... They still don't have LTE?

 

[cavedog]

Lol, shame poor Cell C... They still don't have LTE?

Very little towers. If you are lucky enough to be covered by their LTE you need a very very special simcard which costs R3000 with a modem which is only valid for 1 year. If you passed all that you will be stuck with poor speeds. Mybb own results shows tests peaking 9Mbps or so. Not even worth it.

Both MTN and Vodacom gets LTE speeds of well above 20Mbps depending on the signal strength....

Cellc got absolutely nothing going for them now. They are not even that cheap anymore on the voice AND data part.

MTN 1c per second and cheap on net calls and high volume data bundles from MTN will slow Cellc take up I think.

 

[cavedog]

I'm also very annoyed with MTN because they have limited this to a 128k simcard only... Why I do not know because I have a 64k simcard now and its very LTE capable but MTN is hearing nothing and I need to do a sim swap to a 128k simcard to get LTE now....

 

[VarkSteaks]

.... and I need to do a sim swap to a 128k simcard to get LTE now....

The last time I needed a new SIM (and swap) they charged me like R130 odd bucks

 

[km2]

Very little towers.

Is there better coverage than shown on this map from MTN? Their LTE network in Cape Town looks about as good as Cell C's (i.e. terrible), and nothing compared to Telkom Mobile.

 

[Azimuth]

This is indeed fantastic news! MTN is coming out strong on all fronts lately.

BUT

I really do hope Cell C start pulling out their trump cards. I've never used Cell C but I appreciate what they stand for. If they have LTE, even in some areas, they should go live ASAP. (cavedog hinted at some base stations having LTE but there have been virtually no reports)

Cell C will be able to match Vodacom's LTE offering. VC LTE is very solid but not the fastest compared to MTN LTE or TM LTE. Since VC is successful with their LTE, Cell C could be too. Coverage can be a work in progress.

 

[Swa]

Lol, shame poor Cell C... They still don't have LTE?

At the price of MTN's LTE it doesn't really matter. Both Vodacon and eMpTyN can't match Cell C's offering. When Cell C launches their LTE will be dead in the water between Cell C and Telkom's.

 

[cavedog]

At the price of MTN's LTE it doesn't really matter. Both Vodacon and eMpTyN can't match Cell C's offering. When Cell C launches their LTE will be dead in the water between Cell C and Telkom's.

Am I missing something?

Cellc 5Gb data R399 no LTE
http://www.cellc.co.za/smartdata-bundles

MTN 6GB data R299 with LTE
https://www.mtninternet.co.za/GetIt/Pages/InternetBundles.aspx

 

[Swa]

Am I missing something?

Cellc 5Gb data R399 no LTE
http://www.cellc.co.za/smartdata-bundles

MTN 6GB data R299 with LTE
https://www.mtninternet.co.za/GetIt/Pages/InternetBundles.aspx

Yes, the high usage packages of Cell C and Telkom at R9 and R15 per GB respectively. With the small fries from Vodacon and eMpTyN it's no use to have LTE.

 

[cozinsky]

Does Vodacom prepaid subscribers not already have access to LTE? Why did MTN wait so long to give their prepaid customers access to LTE to begin with? Not impressed.

 

[Azimuth]

I personally could not get LTE activated properly on a VC prepaid SIM. I actually gave up and refused to pay for a SIM swap. In the process I lost 3GB data since I couldn't use 3G (high contention ratio in my normal usage area).

There is reason to be impressed with MTN prepaid LTE, they have feasible prepaid data packages - VC do not.

 

[xera]

According to MTN, LTE offers “everything you’re already doing via mobile internet, just much, much faster”:

Download apps almost instantly
Download a song in 4 seconds
Download movies in minutes
Upload a photo in 6 seconds
Enjoy crisper, clearer streaming video

What apps? Exactly how fast is your definition of almost instant?

Any song? I take it this is in lossless format, as it is on the CD's that are sold. If I download flac, can I get it in under 4 seconds?

What movie(s)? How many movies did you download in how many minutes? Was it Blu-ray?

Does a photo always take 6 seconds to upload? What about an uncompressed photo from my DSLR, will that also take 6 seconds?

Crisper, clearer streaming video? I should hope so - judging from what you said above, it better be perfectly crisp and clear, and stream instantly at true Blu-ray quality! :wtf:

 

[k-4]

Very little towers. If you are lucky enough to be covered by their LTE you need a very very special simcard which costs R3000 with a modem which is only valid for 1 year. If you passed all that you will be stuck with poor speeds. Mybb own results shows tests peaking 9Mbps or so. Not even worth it.

Both MTN and Vodacom gets LTE speeds of well above 20Mbps depending on the signal strength....

Cellc got absolutely nothing going for them now. They are not even that cheap anymore on the voice AND data part.

MTN 1c per second and cheap on net calls and high volume data bundles from MTN will slow Cellc take up I think.

1c per second??? Prepaid ??? Do you have any references?

 

[cavedog]

1c per second??? Prepaid ??? Do you have any references?

Yes its been out a while and also looks like they might have actually extended it too.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/cellular/103509-mtn-1c-per-second-price-plan.html

Price wise MTN is miles ahead of Vodacom now. Cheap calls on a fixed rate to any network. Decent on net bundles for calls,sms and data on net and decently priced data bundles if you go 1GB or higher with the extra free data promo. They also enabled LTE now so they are pretty much the leader for Value for money and internet speed if you are in a LTE covered area.

 

[k-4]

Yes its been out a while and also looks like they might have actually extended it too.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/cellular/103509-mtn-1c-per-second-price-plan.html

Price wise MTN is miles ahead of Vodacom now. Cheap calls on a fixed rate to any network. Decent on net bundles for calls,sms and data on net and decently priced data bundles if you go 1GB or higher with the extra free data promo. They also enabled LTE now so they are pretty much the leader for Value for money and internet speed if you are in a LTE covered area.

Thanks for that, wow...are they now even cheaper than cellc ?

 

[cavedog]

Thanks for that, wow...are they now even cheaper than cellc ?

Not really. Cellc has the 50c per second but a lot of limitations. No on net bonuses and premium rates to 0800 and 086 numbers. Their data bundle prices 1GB and higher are also not that competitive with no LTE.

MTN has 60c per minute to any SA number including 0800 and 086 numbers. They have ok data prices when buying 1GB or higher. They also now have LTE which is a nice extra to have if you get slow 3G speeds or if you just want to email attachments fast because MTN LTE gives about 9-10Mbps upload speed vs 2.5 - 3.5Mbps max 3G upload speed on a good tower.

So I would say MTN takes it unless you make calls only to cellcphone numbers and use minimal data then you might want to use the Cellc offer.

 

[k-4]

Not really. Cellc has the 50c per second but a lot of limitations. No on net bonuses and premium rates to 0800 and 086 numbers. Their data bundle prices 1GB and higher are also not that competitive with no LTE.

MTN has 60c per minute to any SA number including 0800 and 086 numbers. They have ok data prices when buying 1GB or higher. They also now have LTE which is a nice extra to have if you get slow 3G speeds or if you just want to email attachments fast because MTN LTE gives about 9-10Mbps upload speed vs 2.5 - 3.5Mbps max 3G upload speed on a good tower.

So I would say MTN takes it unless you make calls only to cellcphone numbers and use minimal data then you might want to use the Cellc offer.

Any idea if that is per second billing or per minute? If im not mistaken the article says 50c per sms but i thought it is 25c ?


really wish mybroadband.co.za would do a newer price comparison.

 

[cavedog]

Any idea if that is per second billing or per minute? If im not mistaken the article says 50c per sms but i thought it is 25c ?


really wish mybroadband.co.za would do a newer price comparison.

Both MTN and Cellc is per second billing from the very first second. I would not be able to confirm sms charges because I never sms really but I think it might be 50c but I could be wrong.

 

[Swa]

Not really. Cellc has the 50c per second but a lot of limitations. No on net bonuses and premium rates to 0800 and 086 numbers. Their data bundle prices 1GB and higher are also not that competitive with no LTE.

MTN has 60c per minute to any SA number including 0800 and 086 numbers. They have ok data prices when buying 1GB or higher. They also now have LTE which is a nice extra to have if you get slow 3G speeds or if you just want to email attachments fast because MTN LTE gives about 9-10Mbps upload speed vs 2.5 - 3.5Mbps max 3G upload speed on a good tower.

So I would say MTN takes it unless you make calls only to cellcphone numbers and use minimal data then you might want to use the Cellc offer.

Still haven't given me an answer about their high usage bundles. Vodacon and eMpTyN still doesn't have any response to them. LTE is useless if you can't use it without maxing out your cap in 5 seconds.