The data cost of WhatsApp voice calling in SA
WhatsApp voice calls will cost South African mobile data bundle users as little as 2c per minute, or as much as 92c per minute in out-of-bundle or ad-hoc data usage.
The as-yet unreleased voice over Internet Protocol calling feature for WhatsApp became widely available in recent weeks when the messaging company opened the service on an invitation basis.
Android users were able to download a new version of WhatsApp, and when they received a call the app’s interface would change to allow voice calls to be made.
Tests conducted on WhatsApp voice calling on Android indicated that the VoIP call can consume up to 470 kilobytes (KB) of data per minute.
Multiplying this data usage with the converted per-Megabyte (MB) prices of data from South Africa’s mobile operators yielded an interesting comparison of what a WhatsApp call might cost in South Africa.
While using a data bundle smaller than 2GB bolted onto your existing cellular voice service, you can pay as little as 3c per minute for a WhatsApp voice call.
| WhatsApp voice call data costs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 100MB in-bundle data | Price | Per-MB rate | WhatsApp per-minute |
| Cell C | R19 | R0.19 | R0.087 |
| Vodacom | R29 | R0.29 | R0.133 |
| MTN (+55MB/3d) | R29 | R0.29 | R0.133 |
| Telkom (All) | R30 | R0.30 | R0.138 |
| 500MB in-bundle data | Price | Per-MB rate | WhatsApp per-minute |
| Afrihost* | R29 | R0.058 | R0.027 |
| Axxess* | R29 | R0.058 | R0.027 |
| MWEB* | R39 | R0.078 | R0.036 |
| Telkom (Own) | R69 | R0.138 | R0.063 |
| Cell C | R85 | R0.170 | R0.078 |
| MTN | R99 | R0.198 | R0.091 |
| Vodacom | R99 | R0.198 | R0.091 |
| 1GB in-bundle data | Price | Per-MB rate | WhatsApp per-minute |
| Axxess* | R49 | R0.048 | R0.022 |
| Afrihost* | R58 | R0.057 | R0.026 |
| MWEB* | R69 | R0.067 | R0.031 |
| Telkom (Own) | R119 | R0.116 | R0.053 |
| Cell C | R149 | R0.146 | R0.067 |
| Vodacom | R149 | R0.146 | R0.067 |
| MTN | See 2GB | ||
| 2GB in-bundle data | Price | Per-MB rate | WhatsApp per-minute |
| Axxess* | R79 | R0.039 | R0.018 |
| Afrihost* | R99 | R0.048 | R0.022 |
| MWEB* | R99 | R0.048 | R0.022 |
| MTN | R149 | R0.073 | R0.033 |
| Telkom (Own) | R149 | R0.073 | R0.033 |
| Cell C | R245 | R0.120 | R0.055 |
| Vodacom | R249 | R0.122 | R0.056 |
| Items marked with an * are data-only services | |||
On data-only services such as those offered by Afrihost, Axxess, and MWEB, the effective cost can come down to 2c per minute on their 2GB packages.
When larger data bundles are considered from both the mobile operators and mobile data-only service providers, the cost of a WhatsApp voice call becomes as low as 1c per minute or less.
Looking at out-of-bundle (OOB) and ad-hoc data usage, however, the cost of a WhatsApp call can go up to 92c per minute on Vodacom’s R2/MB OOB data rate.
Other operators have significantly lower OOB options on their pre-paid tariff plans, with Telkom’s SIM Sonke package standing out at 29c/MB.
The table below summarises how much a WhatApp voice call will cost when paying OOB data rates.
| OOB data | Per-MB rate | WhatsApp per-minute | |
| Afrihost* | R0.10 | R0.046 | |
| MWEB* | R0.30 | R0.138 | |
| Cell C | R0.99 | R0.454 | |
| Telkom (Own) | R0.29 – R1.00 | R0.13 – R0.46 | |
| MTN | R0.99 | R0.454 | |
| Vodacom | R1.00 – R2.00 | R0.46 – R0.92 | |
| Axxess* | N/A | N/A | |
| Items marked with an * are data-only services | |||
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