Cell C hikes contract setup fees by 71%
Cell C quietly increased its SIM & connection fee by 71% from R114 to R195 between July and August 2014, but still remains cheaper than Vodacom and Telkom Mobile.
“SIM & connection” is charged to contract customers as a once-off setup fee by most mobile network operators, though many offer promotions that waive the fee (especially for new contract customers).
At R195, Cell C is significantly more expensive than it was before, but still comes in under Telkom, which charges R200, and the R202 levied by Vodacom.
MTN is currently offering free SIM & connection on all its contracts, and its terms & conditions do not appear to list any exceptions to this.
The table below summarises how various mobile network operators, virtual operators, and resellers compare when it comes to once-off setup charges.
| Operator | SIM & connection fee |
| Cell C | R195 |
| MTN | R0 |
| Vodacom | R202 |
| Telkom | R200 |
| Virtual operators / resellers | SIM & connection fee |
| Virgin Mobile | R0 / R121 |
| Afrihost | R0 / R149 |
| Mweb | R0 / R120 |
Virgin Mobile doesn’t charge a SIM & connection fee on contracts that exclude a device, but asks R121 on deals with a phone.
Afrihost’s once-off charge is not a SIM & connection fee, but rather a “delivery and RICA” charge. This charge is waived for packages greater than 500MB.
Like Afrihost, Mweb doesn’t charge a SIM & connection fee, but asks a R120 delivery fee. It currently has a promotion offering free delivery on its 2GB contract.
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