Pre Paid Data Options

[scoobyd00]

Hello,

I will be staying in South Africa for 2 months early next year and was wondering if somebody would be able to explain to me the options I have for either EDGE or 3G data access on a pre-paid basis (as I will only be in SA for 2 months).

Does Vodacom offer pre-paid data without a contract?

I have access to both EDGE and 3G compatible handsets.

Thanks!



Jamie.

 

[ic]

Yes, you can buy a pre-paid sim card in some SA supermarkets for less than ZAR2.00 and have it "provisioned" [activated] for data, and from there the cost is ZAR2.00/MB. Vodacom GPRS is available just about anywhere, but Vodacom EDGE coverage is limited, however Vodacom 3G|HSDPA is more widespread than Vodacom EDGE coverage.

PS: Welcome to MyADSL .

 

[dotcat]

yo scoobs! - Buy a Virgin Starter pack for R80 - 50c/mb - pretty decent edge coverage and speeds. The 50c/mb will very soon make up for the R50 u paid for the sim card.

I've used an n70 with virgin edge for a month for work and the speeds are ok - not great but fine for most things and its pretty cool that you not paying 4 times as much with vodacom

 

[ic]

But, Virgin Mobile SA does not have access to a 3G network [their SA network operator, CellC, has not decided yet if it will offer 3G or 3.5G, or anything more than 2.5G].

If scoobyd00 wants to use 3G, then Vodacom has better 3G [actually HSDPA] coverage than MTN, and ZAR2.00/MB is probably ok due to the GBP/ZAR exchange rate.

 

[scoobyd00]

Thanks for the information!

I think i'll pack an EDGE handset, and my wife has a 3G handset (not HSDPA though) I could steal if EDGE wasn't working out too well .

It will just be for checking emails, reading the news and doing some IM chat whilst I am working, so the larger bandwidth options are not really too important to me.



Would you say for EDGE, one provider is better quality than the others, if cost wasn't the main concern? I will be in Johannesburg.

It would be annoying to have frequent disconnections and I am concerned that if virgin only charge 50c per meg then the quality of connections might suffer, or the service might be very congested?



As ic noted, the GPB/ZAR exchange rate makes all of these prices very low to someone coming from the UK.

To put it into some perspective:

* 50c is 3.4 english pence (3.4p) at the moment;

* it costs me 10p to send a SMS message;

* In the UK Orange charge £3.00 per meg of data ( which is R58.67 !! );
source: http://www1.orange.co.uk/service_plans/payasyougo/services_price_guides_overview.html

* In the UK Virgin Mobile charge £5.12 per meg of data ( which is R75.06 !!!! )
source: http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/genericContent.do?contentId=payasyougo.tarrif.shop.sm018

Actually, I did a quick look on answers.com and they have this data:

* Globe Telecom, Philippines, offers GPRS for USD 3 per megabyte.
* Virgin Mobile, South Africa, offers GPRS for R0.50 (USD 0.07) per megabyte (as of 2006).
* Orange, UK, offers full internet GPRS for £4 per megabyte (as of 2006).

source: http://www.answers.com/topic/gprs#GPRS_cost_structure_examples (the figures for Orange UK are slightly out)

So, regardless of currency value, R0.50 is the most fabulous deal for you guys!!! Could you imagine paying R75.00 for 1MB data as you would with Virgin UK?!?



Jamie.

 

[adsl3g]

Would you say for EDGE, one provider is better quality than the others, if cost wasn't the main concern? I will be in Johannesburg.

It would be annoying to have frequent disconnections and I am concerned that if virgin only charge 50c per meg then the quality of connections might suffer, or the service might be very congested?

MTN has better EDGE coverage than Vodacom and you can get data bundles on a pre-paid MTN sim card. So if you concerned about Virgin's quality, MTN is the way to go. Judging from posts on these forums lately, Vodacom service is pretty shaky w.r.t data coverage - in my experience as well.

*/runs and hides.

 

[ic]

MTN has better EDGE coverage than Vodacom and you can get data bundles on a pre-paid MTN sim card. So if you concerned about Virgin's quality, MTN is the way to go. Judging from posts on these forums lately, Vodacom service is pretty shaky w.r.t data coverage - in my experience as well.

*/runs and hides.

My understanding is that Vodacom has little to no EDGE coverage in Johannesburg, so MTN [or Virgin Mobile] would be a better bet if the wife is very attached to her 3G phone...

 

[ajax]

My understanding is that Vodacom has little to no EDGE coverage in Johannesburg, so MTN [or Virgin Mobile] would be a better bet if the wife is very attached to her 3G phone...

Yes, less in the North than MTN, but in the southern parts of SA more than MTN.

Best would be to have simcards from 2 or 3 networks, just as a backup.

 

[ic]

Yes, less in the North than MTN, but in the southern parts of SA more than MTN.

Best would be to have simcards from 2 or 3 networks, just as a backup.

Yep, that's what most forumites are doing nowadays anyway - pre-paid sim cards from both Vodacom & MTN, and some with Vodacom & MTN & Virgin Mobile sim cards, and then there are others that have multiple pre-paid sim cards from at least Vodacom [free internet debacle & sim farming ], no reason why scoobyd00 shouldn't consider doing the same .

 

[nuyork]

* In the UK Orange charge £3.00 per meg of data ( which is R58.67 !! );
source: http://www1.orange.co.uk/service_plans/payasyougo/services_price_guides_overview.html

* In the UK Virgin Mobile charge £5.12 per meg of data ( which is R75.06 !!!! )
source: http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/genericContent.do?contentId=payasyougo.tarrif.shop.sm018

Actually, I did a quick look on answers.com and they have this data:

* Globe Telecom, Philippines, offers GPRS for USD 3 per megabyte.
* Virgin Mobile, South Africa, offers GPRS for R0.50 (USD 0.07) per megabyte (as of 2006).
* Orange, UK, offers full internet GPRS for £4 per megabyte (as of 2006).

source: http://www.answers.com/topic/gprs#GPRS_cost_structure_examples (the figures for Orange UK are slightly out)

So, regardless of currency value, R0.50 is the most fabulous deal for you guys!!! Could you imagine paying R75.00 for 1MB data as you would with Virgin UK?!?

R75/MB!!! Oh my soul!!! And we have people here complaining about R2/MB. Yes the UK might have cheaper internet via cable, but their wireless options are far more expensive.

:L: