Micro-SIMs quietly launched
Vodacom announced in May that they would receive micro-SIMs available later that month and MTN said that they would stock micro-SIMs from early to mid June.
Cell C also announced that they were importing micro-SIMs, according to TechCentral.
Micro-SIMs are Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) that are 52% smaller than a standard mini-SIM. The actual chip remains the same size and backwards compatible with mini-SIMs, it’s just the plastic “card” part around the chip that’s smaller than that of a mini-SIM.
These micro-SIMs (also called the third form factor, or 3FF) were originally developed to fit into devices that would be too small for a mini-SIM and are used by Apple in their iPad and iPhone 4 products.
Vodacom confirmed that micro-SIMs are currently available from Vodashops for R105 if you’d like to set it up as a Twin Call SIM, or at R62.99 if you do a SIM swap.
If you’d prefer to get a new contract or prepaid account for your iPad you’ll have to sign the contract or buy the starter pack and perform a SIM swap.
Cell C said that they would have micro-SIMs from mid-August and would make them available at larger Cell C outlets for the same price as a standard SIM swap.
Staff at MTN stores said that they haven’t received any micro-SIMs yet. MTN wasn’t able to comment on when they would make micro-SIMs available and how much they would cost.
Neither Vodacom, Cell C, or MTN could provide a local launch date for the Apple iPad.
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