Afrihost Air Mobile smashes MTN, PnP Mobile, TFG Connect

Afrihost Air Mobile is the most affordable mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) on MTN’s network for heavy data users, a MyBroadband analysis has revealed.

We found that the MVNO is cheaper than MTN, PnP Mobile, and TFG Connect regarding out-of-bundle data rates and data bundles of various sizes.

However, it should be noted that Afrihost CEO Gian Visser announced this week that they will be relaunching Air Mobile on Tuesday, 6 February 2024, with an offer of 10GB free data and R100 free airtime.

MVNOs leverage the infrastructure of mobile network operators such as MTN, allowing them to offer cellular services without spending billions to build their own networks.

MyBroadband compared prepaid out-of-bundle rates and data prices from prominent MTN-powered MVNOs and MTN itself.

Afrihost Air Mobile offers the cheapest out-of-bundle (OOB) data rate at R0.10 per megabyte (MB) — half that of the next-most affordable option, PnP Mobile.

MTN’s OOB data rate is the highest at R0.49. However, this is the rate charged for customers who have previously bought data bundles.

Those who haven’t pay R0.29 per MB.

Afrihost Air Mobile, TFG Connect, and MTN offer similar OOB voice rates at R0.99 per minute, while PnP Mobile is most expensive at R1.49 per minute.

Regarding SMS charges, TFG Connect is the cheapest at R0.49 per SMS, while MTN and Afrihost Air Mobile charge R0.50. PnP Mobile is most expensive at R0.60 per SMS.

The OOB rates offered by the three MVNOs and MTN are compared in the table below.

Data price comparison

MyBroadband compared the prices of 100MB, 500MB, 1GB, 2GB, and 5GB data bundles available from the three MVNOs and MTN to determine which is the cheapest.

Afrihost Air Mobile gets this accolade as its data bundles were the cheapest across the board.

The MVNO sells 100MB and 500MB data bundles for R10 and R25, respectively. In comparison, PnP Mobile, TFG Connect, and MTN all charge R20 per 100MB bundle.

PnP Mobile is the most expensive for 500MB bundles at R75, while TFG Connect and MTN charge R59 and R69, respectively.

Afrihost Air Mobile’s 1GB and up data bundles offer great value. It charges R30 for 1GB, R60 for 2GB and R100 for 5GB.

It should be noted that TFG Connect and PnP Mobile don’t sell 5GB bundles, but their 2GB bundles are already more than R100.

TFG Connect sells 1GB bundles for R79 and 2GB for R139, while PNP Mobile charges R99 and R189, respectively.

MTN’s 5GB data bundle costs R199 more than Afrihost Air Mobile’s and it charges R85 and R149 for 1GB and 2GB bundles, respectively.

A comparison of prepaid data bundles ranging from 100MB to 5GB is summarised in the table below.