Uncapped 4G showdown — prices from R265
The cheapest uncapped 4G package available in South Africa is Rain’s 19-hours Unlimited off-peak plan for R265 a month, a MyBroadband analysis has revealed.
However, while Rain’s package is capped during peak hours, there are several other options with speeds of up to 50Mbps and no time-based limits for under R350 a month.
MyBroadband compared the pricing of several uncapped LTE products available in South Africa for service providers, including Rain, Axxess, Afrihost, MTN, Telkom, and Supersonic.
As mentioned, Rain’s 19-hour off-peak package is the cheapest at R265 per month. However, customers will pay R50 per GB to use the connection between 18:00 and 23:00.
Axxess’s MTN Uncapped LTE packages offer speeds of 10Mbps to 200Mbps, with prices ranging from R299 to R779 a month. Its Telkom-based 4G packages offer speeds of 10Mbps to 20Mbps, with prices ranging from R299 to R695 per month.
However, it should be noted that Axxess is running a promotion on its 10Mbps uncapped Telkom package that will see customers pay R299 a month for the first two months and R599 a month after that.
We have excluded Vodacom from the uncapped 4G price comparison as it hard caps its packages once a certain threshold is met.
The company previously told MyBroadband that it implements a hard lock on its “uncapped” 5G home packages to protect its network and ensure that all its customers receive “the best quality connectivity”.
While the hard caps initially only applied to its 5G home products, Vodacom informed its subscribers that effective from 15 February 2023, “all new and existing uncapped Home Internet customers will be subject to a hard lock”. This includes its LTE Home Internet products.
After media backlash, Vodacom backtracked on using the term “uncapped” to describe these products.
It announced it would discontinue all its uncapped products and replace them with high-cap metered packages.
The table below summarises the pricing, features, and fair usage policies of uncapped LTE products available in South Africa.
| Uncapped 4G packages | |||
| Package | Speed limits | Fair use policy | Price |
| Rain 19-hours Unlimited off-peak | No limit |
|
R265 |
| Axxess MTN 20Mbps uncapped LTE | Up to 20Mbps |
|
R299 |
| Axxess Telkom 10Mbps uncapped LTE | Up to 10Mbps |
|
R299* |
| Axxess MTN 50Mbps uncapped LTE | Up to 50Mbps |
|
R349 |
| Telkom Unlimited off-peak | Up to 10Mbps |
|
R349 x 12 |
| MyMTN Home 10Mbps uncapped 4G | Up to 10Mbps |
|
R349 x 24 |
| Telkom 10Mbps all-hours uncapped | Up to 10Mbs |
|
R449 x 12 |
| Rain Unlimited 4G any-device | Up to 10Mbps | None | R499 |
| Axxess Telkom off-peak uncapped LTE | Up to 10Mbps |
|
R495 |
| Supersonic MTN 10Mbps Home fixed-LTE | Up to 10Mbps |
|
R499 |
| Axxess MTN 100Mbps uncapped LTE | Up to 100Mbps |
|
R549 |
| Afrihost Telkom uncapped LTE 10Mbps | Up to 10Mbps |
|
R597 |
| Telkom 20Mbps all-hours uncapped | Up to 20Mbps |
|
R599 x 12 |
| MyMTN Home 20Mbps uncapped 4G | Up to 20Mbps |
|
R649 x 24 |
| Axxess Telkom 20Mbps uncapped LTE | Up to 20Mbps |
|
R695 |
| Axxess MTN 200Mbps uncapped LTE | Up to 200Mbps |
|
R749 |
| Axxess MTN uncapped LTE Pro | Best-effort speeds |
|
R779 |
| Telkom Smartbroadband wireless prepaid unlimited all-hours | Up to 10Mbps |
|
R849 |
| Supersonic MTN 20Mbps Home fixed-LTE | Up to 20Mbps |
|
R899 |
| Afrihost MTN Pure LTE uncapped | Up to 150Mbps |
|
R949 |
| Afrihost Telkom uncapped LTE 20Mbps | Up to 20Mbps |
|
R997 |
| * Axxess is currently running a promotion on its 10Mbps uncapped Telkom package at a reduced price of R299 per month for two months. After that customers will be charged R599 a month
** Axxess’ top-tier MTN uncapped LTE Pro package specifies that “Axxess reserves the right to manage users should it be required (1000GB Limit)”. |
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Now read: Huawei dominates mobile network speeds in South Africa
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