Mobile operator MTN SA will introduce what it describes as an uncapped 3G broadband product from 1 June. The service will be subject to a fair usage agreement, the company has said, and will only be available on a 24-month contract.
The uncapped contract is available for R749/month. However, strict fair-usage rules apply to the service. Once subscribers have used 3GB of data, the service will be restricted to a download speed of 128kbit/s. Before the threshold is reached, downloads are available at full speed, or up to a theoreticaly 14,4Mbit/s in 3G coverage areas.
MTN has also announced an “uncapped” product for R1 999/month, which includes 10GB of data at full speed, which will then be throttled down to 128kbit/s once that threshold has been reached.
In a surprise move, MTN has also announced plans to roll out 3G services at 900MHz, the first operator in SA to do so. It is already running a trial, it says. The move follows Cell C’s recent announcement that it would build an evolved high-speed packet access, or 3G HSPA+, network at 900MHz.
The lower frequency makes it easier to provide broadband services affordably in rural areas and makes 3G coverage better in urban areas.
Until now, SA’s two 3G operators, Vodacom and MTN, have only offered wireless broadband at 2,1GHz. The higher frequency does not penetrate buildings as easily as 900MHz signals.
MTN says SA will be the second country in Africa to provide 3G at 900MHz, after Ghana.
* This is a developing story. Please keep checking back here for details.
For R749 how much could be download out of this contract at faster than 128kbit/s?