Smartphone contract comparison: Cell C SmartChat vs the rest
Cell C recently launched a new set of contracts aimed at smartphone users which it has dubbed “SmartChat”.
On its website, Cell C describes the packages as offering “increased data for data hungry smartphones”.
These contracts are available on a month-to-month, 6, 12, 18, and 24-month basis.
Offering contracts that include both voice minutes and data, with data making up the bulk of the package, is a fairly unique offering.
However, it is possible to customise many of the contracts available from other operators to offer similar amounts of voice minutes and data.
The table below shows how Cell C’s new SmartChat contracts compare to packages from MTN, Vodacom, and Telkom Mobile when brought in line with what Cell C is offering, using add-on bundles.
Not shown in the table are the contract periods available. Cell C SmartChat is the only contract listed below available on a month-to-month basis, but My MTNChoice contracts of 6, 12, and 18 months are also available in addition to the standard 24-month term.
| Contract pricing comparison: Cell C SmartChat vs the rest | ||||
| 500MB / 25 minute smartphone contracts | ||||
| Package | Data (anytime) | Data (midnight) | Minutes | Price |
| My MTNChoice 25 + 500MB | 500MB | 0 | 25 | R85 |
| Cell C SmartChat 1GB | 512MB | 512MB | 25 | R99 |
| My MTNChoice 25 + 1GB | 1GB | 0 | 25 | R125 |
| 1GB / 50 minute smartphone contracts | ||||
| Package | Data (anytime) | Data (midnight) | Minutes | Price |
| My MTNChoice 1GB + 50min | 1GB | 0 | 50 | R149 |
| My MTNChoice 50 + 1GB | 1GB | 0 | 50 | R160 |
| Telkom Mobile SmartPlan 50 + 1GB on-net | 1GB on-net | 0 | 50 | R168 |
| My MTNChoice 2GB + 50min | 2GB | 0 | 50 | R189 |
| My MTNChoice 50 + 2GB | 2GB | 0 | 50 | R190 |
| Cell C SmartChat 2GB | 1GB | 1GB | 50 | R199 |
| Telkom Mobile SmartPlan 50 + 1GB | 1GB | 0 | 50 | R229 |
| Telkom Mobile SmartPlan 50 + 2x1GB on-net | 2GB on-net | 0 | 50 | R287 |
| Telkom Mobile SmartPlan 50 + 2GB | 2GB | 0 | 50 | R398 |
| 1.5GB / 75 minute smartphone contracts | ||||
| Package | Data (anytime) | Data (midnight) | Minutes | Price |
| Cell C SmartChat 3GB | 1.5GB | 1.5GB | 75 | R249 |
| Vodacom Smart S + 1GB | 1.2GB | 0 | 75 | R348 |
| 3GB / 100 minute smartphone contracts | ||||
| Package | Data (anytime) | Data (midnight) | Minutes | Price |
| My MTNChoice 100 +2GB + 1GB | 3GB | 0 | 100 | R345 |
| My MTNChoice 2GB + 1GB + 100min | 3GB | 0 | 100 | R374 |
| Cell C SmartChat 6GB | 3GB | 3GB | 100 | R449 |
| Telkom Mobile SmartPlan 100 + 3x1GB on-net | 3GB | 0 | 100 | R456 |
| My MTNChoice 2GB + 2x2GB + 100min | 6GB | 0 | 100 | R494 |
| My MTNChoice 100 + 3x2GB | 6GB | 0 | 100 | R495 |
| Telkom Mobile SmartPlan 100 + 5GB + 1GB on-net | 6GB | 0 | 100 | R567 |
| Vodacom Smart M + 3GB | 3.3GB | 0 | 120 | R598 |
| 4GB / 150 minute smartphone contracts | ||||
| Package | Data (anytime) | Data (midnight) | Minutes | Price |
| My MTN Choice 2GB + 2GB + 100min + 50min | 4GB | 0 | 150 | R444 |
| My MTNChoice 100 + 2x2GB + 50min | 4GB | 0 | 150 | R445 |
| Cell C SmartChat 8GB | 4GB | 4GB | 150 | R599 |
| My MTN Choice 2GB + 3x2GB + 100min + 50min | 8GB | 0 | 150 | R684 |
| My MTNChoice 100 + 2x2GB + 50min | 8GB | 0 | 150 | R685 |
| Vodacom Smart M + 5GB | 5.3GB | 0 | 120 | R698 |
| Vodacom Smart S includes 200 SMS messages, Vodacom Smart M includes 300 SMS messages | ||||
The table shows that if you plan on making use of Cell C’s “nite data”, which is available between midnight and 06:00, then SmartChat can compare well against what is already available on the market.
However, one important exception is the 1GB+1GB price tier, where you can get 2GB of anytime data from MTN on their My MTNChoice packages for less than the monthly cost of Cell C SmartChat 2GB (which includes only 1GB of anytime data).
Comparing the prices and included value of cellphone contracts is only part of the story, though. Another important aspect of a cellular contract is the out-of-bundle (OOB) rates.
The table below summarises the OOB rates of the contracts we compared:
| Smartphone contract OOB rates | Data (per MB) | Voice (on-net/off-net) | SMS (local) |
| Cell C SmartChat | R0.79 * | R1.50 | R0.50 |
| My MTNChoice 25, 50 | R1.00 | R1.30 / R1.70 | R0.50 |
| My MTNChoice 100 | R1.00 | R1.20 / R1.60 | R0.50 |
| My MTNChoice 1GB, 2GB | R0.29 | R1.95 | R0.75 |
| Vodacom Smart S | R1.00 | R1.75 | R0.35 |
| Vodacom Smart M | R1.00 | R1.75 | R0.35 |
| Telkom Mobile SmartPlan 50 ** | R1.00 | R1.50 | R0.50 |
| Telkom Mobile SmartPlan 100 ** | R1.00 | R1.50 | R0.50 |
| * Promotional OOB data rate from Cell C valid until 30 September 2014, thereafter R0.99/MB | |||
| ** Telkom Mobile contracts voice billed per minute, all others billed per second | |||
More cellular news
New Cell C smartchat bundles for data hungry smartphones
Vodacom please call me case dismissed, with costs
MTN quietly scores controversial spectrum
Loading ...