MTN vs Rain — Uncapped mobile data battle
MTN is taking on Rain with a new range of uncapped LTE products.
The operator’s new packages offer customers three products to choose from that come with unlimited mobile data available on 24-month contracts with a router or month-to-month deals with only a SIM.
They come with fair usage policies (FUPs) that throttle speeds once a certain amount of data is used in a month, preventing overuse by data hogs that could strain MTN’s network.
The new MyMTN Home Uncapped packages are as follows:
- Up to 10Mbps Uncapped with 400GB FUP — R499
- Up to 20Mbps Uncapped with 600GB FUP — R699
- Up to 30Mbps Uncapped with 700GB FUP — R799
At those price points, it seems all but clear that MTN is gunning for Rain, which has dominated uncapped mobile data offerings in South Africa for several years.
Many of Rain’s 4G and 5G packages are still cheaper than MTN’s.
For example, its popular Unlimited 4G for any device product is priced at R479 and offers unlimited at up to 10Mbps download speeds.
However, Rain’s packages have some notable limits that do not apply to MTN’s products.
Firstly, Rain imposes strict limitations on specific protocols on the 4G and entry-level 5G package — a factor that has been a source of subscriber complaints.
Rain limits streaming resolutions to 360p and 720p on its Unlimited 4G and Unlimited Home 5G Basic packages, respectively.
Setting the resolution higher than those limits on YouTube will lead to buffering, which might be a deal-breaker for avid streaming video viewers.
Rain also throttles VPN usage and torrent downloads on these packages.
In contrast, MTN’s Fair Usage Policy for its Uncapped Home LTE offers does not mention streaming resolution caps or torrent throttling.
In addition, although Rain has expanded its 5G coverage significantly in recent months, it is still far from the reach of MTN’s fixed-LTE coverage.
Consumers are therefore less likely to have 5G available in their area.
We compiled the uncapped 4G and 5G offers available from MTN and Rain to see how they stack up.
We also included Telkom’s uncapped home LTE offers, which are available directly from the operator on a contract or through Afrihost or Axxess on a month-to-month basis.
We did not consider limited-hour packages like Rain’s unlimited off-peak product for R250, or Telkom’s Business hours SmartBroadband Wireless Unlimited LTE.
The table below compares the uncapped LTE and 5G packages available from MTN, Rain, and Telkom.
| Uncapped LTE and 5G packages in South Africa | ||||
| Package | Speed | Limitations | Router and subscription type | Price |
| Rain Unlimited 4G for any device | 10Mbps | 360p streaming VPNs throttled Torrents throttled |
SIM-only — Month-to-month | R479 |
| Rain Unlimited Home 5G Basic | 25Mbps | 720p streaming VPNs throttled Torrents throttled |
Free-to-use router — Month-to-month | R499 |
| MTN Uncapped Home Wi-Fi 10Mbps | 10Mbps | 400GB FUP – 2Mbps speeds | Router — contract SIM-only — month-to-month |
R499 |
| Rain Unlimited Home 5G Standard | 50Mbps | 1080p streaming VPNs throttled Torrents throttled |
Free-to-use router — Month-to-month | R699 |
| MTN Uncapped Home Wi-Fi 20Mbps | 20Mbps | 600GB FUP – 4Mbps speeds | Router — contract SIM-only — month-to-month |
R699 |
| Telkom SmartBroadband Wireless Unlimited | 10Mbps | FUP: 250GB – 4Mbps 300GB – 2Mbps |
Router — contract | R749 |
| MTN Uncapped Home Wi-Fi 30Mbps | 30Mbps | FUP: 700GB – 4Mbps speeds |
Router — contract SIM-only — month-to-month |
R799 |
| MTN 5G Unlimited Data | 100Mbps average 500Mbps peak |
FUP: 200GB – 2Mbps speeds |
Router — contract | R949 |
| Telkom Uncapped LTE through Axxess | 10Mbps | FUP: 250GB – 4Mbps 300GB – 2Mbps |
SIM-only — Month-to-month | R995 |
| Rain Unlimited Home 5G Premium | “Ultrafast download speeds” | Multiple HD streams | Free-to-use router — Month-to-month | R999 |
| Telkom Uncapped through Afrihost | 10Mbps | FUP: 250GB – 4Mbps 300GB – 2Mbps |
SIM-only — Month-to-month | R999 |
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