Cheapest uncapped 50Mbps fibre and mobile plans in South Africa — priced from R509
Webafrica and Afrihost offer among the cheapest fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) packages in South Africa with 50Mbps download speeds.
Many of the country’s major fibre network operators (FNOs) are moving towards 50Mbps as an entry-level speed for customers outside lower-income areas.
With the proliferation of Internet-connected devices and 4K video streaming becoming more mainstream, many households might find that products with speeds lower than 50Mbps cannot keep up with demand.
A 50Mbps package provides enough bandwidth for multiple simultaneous 4K video streams and keeps multiple smartphones, tablets, laptops, security cameras, smart appliances, and other items actively connected without issues.
Unfortunately, most South African households don’t yet have access to a fibre network for the fastest and most reliable connectivity on the market.
We compared the latest prices of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), fixed-LTE, and fixed-5G packages in South Africa to see if there were any similarly-priced alternatives to fibre with speeds of around 50Mbps.
We found that FTTH packages in South Africa generally remained much more affordable than mobile options, although some in the latter category were reasonably priced.
This was based on the prices from two major fibre ISPs — Afrihost and Webafrica — across five big fibre network operators (FNOs).
Between these providers, we counted 11 FTTH packages that were more affordable than the cheapest uncapped mobile package with a speed of 50Mbps or higher — the RainOne Unlimited 5G 60Mbps plan, which costs R795 per month.
The most affordable overall was the MetroFibre 75/75Mbps package from Webafrica, priced at R509.
The FNO recently discontinued its 50Mbps package but has continued offering a cheaper 25Mbps package to customers with access to its existing network.
The cheapest fibre package with a 50Mbps speed was on Afrihost via Openserve’s network. It was priced at R547.
There are plenty more ISPs offering packages on several other FNOs, so you will likely find several other options that are even more affordable than cellular services.
The table below compares the most affordable true uncapped 50Mbps fibre and mobile broadband packages in South Africa.
| True uncapped Internet packages with 50Mbps speeds | |||||
| ISP and package | Technology | Download speed | Upload speed | Fair usage policy and terms | Price |
| Web Africa MetroFibre | Fibre-to-the-home | 50Mbps | 50Mbps | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month R249 initiation fee |
R509 |
| Afrihost Openserve | Fibre-to-the-home | 50Mbps | 25Mbps | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month |
R547 |
| Web Africa Openserve | Fibre-to-the-home | 50Mbps | 25Mbps | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month R249 initiation fee |
R549 |
| Web Africa Openserve | Fibre-to-the-home | 50Mbps | 50Mbps | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month R249 initiation fee |
R639 |
| Afrihost Openserve | Fibre-to-the-home | 50Mbps | 50Mbps | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month |
R647 |
| Afrihost Zoom Fibre | Fibre-to-the-home | 50Mbps | 50Mbps | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month |
R647 |
| Web Africa Vumatel | Fibre-to-the-home | 50Mbps | 50Mbps | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month R249 initiation fee |
R689 |
| Web Africa Octotel | Fibre-to-the-home | 50Mbps | 50Mbps | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month R249 initiation fee |
R699 |
| Web Africa Zoom Fibre | Fibre-to-the-home | 50Mbps | 50Mbps | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month R249 initiation fee |
R709 |
| Afrihost Vumatel | Fibre-to-the-home | 50Mbps | 50Mbps | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month |
R727 |
| Afrihost Octotel | Fibre-to-the-home | 50Mbps | 50Mbps | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month |
R747 |
| Afrihost Pure 5G 50Mbps | Fixed-5G | Up to 50Mbps | Up to 50Mbps | None Requires 5G router — available from R2,999 Month-to-month |
R749 |
| Rain One Unlimited 5G 60Mbps | Fixed-5G | Up to 60Mbps | Unspecified | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month |
R795 |
| Supersonic Air Fibre 50Mbps | Fixed-5G | Up to 50Mbps | Up to 10Mbps | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month |
R799 |
| Afrihost MetroFibre | Fibre-to-the-home | 75Mbps | 75Mbps | None Free-to-use router included Month-to-month |
R797 |
Numerous other affordable mobile broadband packages using fixed-LTE or fixed-5G technologies offer 50Mbps speeds or higher but have strict fair usage policies (FUPs).
For example, Axxess sells an MTN fixed-LTE package that initially boasts download and upload speeds of up to 500Mbps for only R449 per month.
However, the FUP determines that these speeds will only be available up to the first 300GB of usage for the month. Thereafter, Axxess throttles the customer’s connection down to 2Mbps.
Telkom’s entry-level fixed-5G package also boasts download and upload speeds up to 50Mbps but starts throttling customers to 10Mbps after 800GB of consumption.
On top of that, it costs R878 on a three-year contract.
Such products are not ideal for people who need lots of data every month and want to have useable Internet shared between multiple household members.
These packages must be throttled because mobile networks rely on limited radio frequency spectrum to serve millions of customers, with several hundreds or thousands of people often served by the same base station.
Allowing users to download content from the Internet at a high speed and without limits could worsen the experience for other customers.
However, if you only require brief bursts of high speed and only want uncapped Internet for less bandwidth-intensive applications once the high-speed allocation runs out, we’ve summarised some of the best options on the market below.
| Uncapped mobile Internet packages with 50Mbps speeds subject to FUP | |||||
| ISP and package | Technology | Download speed | Upload speed | Fair usage policy and terms | Price |
| Axxess Standard 5G | Fixed-5G | Up to 500Mbps | Up to 500Mbps | After 300GB usage: Speeds throttled to 2Mbps Requires 5G router — available from R1,999 Month-to-month |
R449 |
| MyMTN Home Wi-Fi 60Mbps | Fixed-5G | Up to 60Mbps | Up to 60Mbps | After 800GB usage: Speeds throttled to 10Mbps Free-to-use router included Month-to-month |
R699 |
| Supersonic Home 5G Lite | Fixed-5G | Up to 200Mbps | Unspecified | After 400GB usage: Speeds throttled to 2Mbps Free-to-use router included Month-to-month |
R699 |
| Afrihost Pure 5G 50Mbps | Fixed-5G | Up to 50Mbps | Up to 50Mbps | After 1TB usage: Speeds throttled to 1Mbps Requires 5G router — available from R2,999 Month-to-month |
R749 |
| Axxess Pro 5G | Fixed-5G | Up to 500Mbps | Up to 500Mbps | After 600GB usage: Speeds throttled to 2Mbps Requires 5G router — available from R1,999 Month-to-month |
R759 |
| Afrihost Pure 5G 100Mbps | Fixed-5G | Up to 100Mbps | Up to 50Mbps | After 1TB usage: Speeds throttled to 1Mbps Requires 5G router — available from R2,999 Month-to-month |
R849 |
| Telkom 5G Internet | Fixed-5G | Up to 50Mbps | Up to 50Mbps | After 500GB usage: Speeds throttled to 4Mbps After 550GB usage: Speeds throttled to 2Mbps 24 or 36-month contract |
R878 x 36 (indoor) R1,016 x 36 (outdoor) |
| Axxess Pro+ 5G | Fixed-5G | Up to 500Mbps | Up to 500Mbps | After 1TB usage: Speeds throttled to 2Mbps Requires 5G router — available from R1,999 Month-to-month |
R959 |
| Afrihost Pure 5G Unlimited | Fixed-5G | Up to 500Mbps | Up to 500Mbps | After 1TB usage: Speeds throttled to 1Mbps Requires 5G router — available from R2,999 Month-to-month |
R949 |
| Afrihost Pure Fixed-LTE Uncapped | Fixed-LTE | Up to 150Mbps | Up to 150Mbps | After 1TB usage: Speeds throttled to 2Mbps Free-to-use router included Month-to-month |
R949 |
| MyMTN Home Wi-Fi MaxSpeed | Fixed-5G | Up to 500Mbps | Unspecified | After 1.5TB usage: Speeds throttled to 15Mbps Free-to-use router included Month-to-month |
R999 |
| Supersonic Home Fixed-5G Premium | Fixed-5G | Up to 200Mbps | Unspecified | After 1TB usage: Speeds throttled to 2Mbps Free-to-use router included Month-to-month |
R999 |
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