Telkom officially launched its rebranding of 8ta to Telkom Mobile today (20 March 2013), and along with it, free Wi-Fi access for its contract and pre-paid customers under certain conditions.
The Telkom Mobile website (at 8ta.com) explains that contract subscribers will only qualify for the free Wi-Fi service if it is specifically listed as a feature of the offer or deal.
Existing post-paid and hybrid plans launched before 20 March 2013 do not qualify for Free Unlimited Wi-Fi by default.
New post-paid and hybrid offers from the following list also do not qualify by default:
- SmartPlan 50
- SmartPlan 100
- SmartSaver 50
- SmartSaver 100
- SmartInternet 250MB
- SmartInternet 750MB Promo
- SmartInternet Saver 250MB
- SmartInternet Saver 750MB Promo
So who does qualify?
A quick look at the Telkom Mobile website showed that the BlackBerry Z10 on SmartPlan 100 includes Wi-Fi access, while the same phone on the more expensive Unlimited Voice contract does not get free Wi-Fi.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 on SmartPlan 100 also includes free Wi-Fi.
Many of the contract data packages include Wi-Fi access, though the “Internet 5” promotion that gives 10GB data for R199 per month is one of the few exclusions.
Non-qualifying hybrid subscribers and all pre-paid customers can get free access to Telkom Mobile’s Wi-Fi hotspots by recharging their accounts with a certain amount.
This is summarised in the table below:
| Telkom Mobile pre-paid free Wi-Fi access | ||
| Recharge Value | Usage window | Fair use limit |
| R50-R99.99 | 7 days | 2GB |
| R100+ | 30 days | 10GB |
In its terms and conditions, Telkom Mobile explains that multiple recharges over R50 during a given window period will not qualify for an additional bundle or extend the window period.
“Subscribers shall be able to qualify for a new Promotional Wi-Fi Bundle when they recharge with R50 or more after the expiry of the 7 day or 30 day access window period,” Telkom said.
Telkom Mobile subscribers will also be able to buy ad-hoc bundles to access the network’s Wi-Fi hotspots. These are priced as follows:
- Telkom Mobile Wi-Fi 30 minutes: R25
- Telkom Mobile Wi-Fi 60 minutes: R40
Subscribers can buy Telkom Mobile Wi-Fi bundles through the network’s online self-service portal, or by dialling *180# from a mobile handset or Telkom Mobile dashboard.
Fair usage policy
Qualifying contract and hybrid deals have a fair usage cap of 10GB per month, after which Telkom said the speed will be throttled to 128kbps.
Pre-paid and hybrid customers that get access by recharging may have a lower cap, as shown in the previous table.
According to Telkom, the Wi-Fi service speed shall be reset to normal speed at the beginning of each month.
How to connect
For users to connect to Telkom Mobile’s Wi-Fi hotspots, the operator explained that subscribers will have to set their phones to connect using EAP-SIM authentication.
This will let the SIM cards for qualifying post-paid and hybrid subscribers automatically authenticate them when in a Telkom Mobile Wi-Fi hotpot, the operator said.
Telkom Mobile went on to explain in the FAQ that subscribers will also be able to connect a single extra device such as a notebook or tablet by linking its MAC address to the SIM card.
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